Chapter 21

  SIZZLE

  Alex, Beta, and Chaz sat around the utility table in the lab, hunched over their laptops.

  Chaz was talking loudly, “… until 4 AM creating a market and financial analysis for the box. We have only scratched the surface of the commercial applications for the box. It’s all going into the presentation for Dr. Tilly. Beta, how are the test protocols? Did you complete the document?”

  Beta puffed out an exasperated breath. ”I gave them to you yesterday afternoon. Three days ahead of schedule. You submitted them to Tilly already.”

  “What about the revisions I requested at 1:30 this morning? I sent you an email.”

  “I haven’t checked my emails yet,” Beta replied.

  “You are going to need to be on top of things if you want to be on my team,” Chaz said crisply.

  “Are you going into Seismology?” Alex asked Chaz with an innocent look on his face.

  “What are you talking about?”

  “It just seems like you might be trying to compensate for something.”

  Beta stifled a laugh and looked away.

  “I’m not getting your joke. Alex, if you have to work that hard for it, it must not be funny - and we don’t have time for jocularity. We are on a tight schedule. Get busy!”

  “Spoken like a true ‘size-small-ogist,” enunciated Alex.

  Kelton laughed. “We’ve got a second seismologist in the research department, now.” He was thinking of Tilly.

  Kelton decided that there was no use trying to communicate with the team while they were so occupied with their work and talking with each other. He waited for a lull in the conversation.

  Two quick knocks at the door announced Tilly’s arrival. The door swung open. Tilly stood framed in the doorway for a few seconds until all eyes were on him.

  Kelton could tell that Alex was biting his tongue. “That’s right, Alex,” Kelton said. “Keep whatever it is you're thinking to yourself.”

  “I’ve been looking over the protocols and schedule you submitted last night. Mr. Dixon, if you can’t get more precision from your team, you can be replaced. The taxonomy in the protocols was inaccurate. The schedule is much too protracted. I want results, and I want results this week.”

  Chaz protested. “You said the field was not to be engaged until we have a working theory! You said…”

  “That is nonsense,” interrupted Tilly. “How are you supposed to develop this product without experimentation?” he demanded. “You are chasing your tails. You need to rework the schedule and revise the protocols to meet the schedule. It’s like you weren’t even talking to each other. I’ve never seen such unprofessionalism in a university laboratory. The revisions shouldn’t take more than an hour. I want them on my desk in 45 minutes. Or do I need to look for more serious researchers?”

  Chaz joined in. “You are right, Dr. Tilly. The work has not met my standards. I sent emails to Alex and Beta last night, asking for revisions. They have been completely unresponsive.”

  Beta sputtered. “You sent them in the middle of the night. We have been meeting since we came in the door. It’s 9:20 now. When are we supposed to have…”

  Chaz spoke louder. “I spent most of the night working on a market analysis for commercial applications for the Box. I think the board is going…”

  Tilly interrupted, “We need to make it clear to the board that Dr. Kelton's research has been entirely at my direction. It is predicated upon hours and hours of conversations between Dr. Kelton and myself. My insights led to the construction of this framework.” He waved his hands in the direction of the box. “I should think his logs would detail my contribution!”

  Kelton was dumbfounded at the scientific and academic misconduct. He brought his face inches from Tilly’s. “You’ve never had an original thought in your life. There is a reason you are called Dr. Cut-and-Paste.”

  Alex and Beta started to protest. Chaz shut them down. “Dr. Kelton always gave us strict instructions that we were to keep the results of our experiments between ourselves. He specifically told us that you were not to be informed until we had more data.”

  This tale has been unlawfully obtained from Royal Road. If you discover it on Amazon, kindly report it.

  “Professional piracy, exactly as I suspected, and by your admission, you have all been complicit.”

  Chaz jumped from his chair. “We didn’t know he was working under your direction. He kept all that to himself!”

  Tilly squinted. “Then I suppose you all had better revise your lab notes.” His voice a menacing whisper. “I should think you wouldn’t want being expelled for scientific misconduct reported on your final transcripts.”

  Kelton shook his head in disbelief. Tilly managed to bully and threaten while simultaneously providing the narrative to rewrite the history of the box. “You are a devil.” He scowled.

  Jacob walked up behind Tilly, “Tell them they only have 40 minutes now.”

  Tilly looked at his watch. “You have 40 minutes to make the revisions. I want them on my desk. Get busy.”

  Jacob laughed, “Ha. He did it! Just like I told him. Sometimes I amaze myself!”

  “Or were you predicting the inevitable?” asked Kelton.

  “Oh, you! It’s cute the way you are catching on in your small way. You’re getting to know your way around a little, aren’t ya?”

  Kelton wasn’t really surprised to see Jacob. Birds of a feather.

  As the team busied themselves at their tablets, Tilly walked towards the door. He turned. “Mr. Dixon. Please walk with me.”

  Chaz and Tilly left the lab, with Jacob and Kelton following closely behind. As they walked down the empty hallway, Tilly turned to Chaz. “We are going to ask you for a little demonstration of the device today in the hearing.”

  “ I can do that. It’s easy to operate,” said Chaz.

  “No, it’s not,” Tilly said firmly. “It doesn’t operate.”

  Chaz had a puzzled expression on his face.

  “Why do I always have to work with the mentally deficient?” Tilly asked the sky. “Do I have to spell it out for you?”

  “Oooh, yeah.” said Jacob with glee, “Spell it out. Dr. Deke here needs to know what you are up to. Don’t leave anything out!”

  “If the box isn’t operational - never was operational, it is evidence of a gross deception by Dr. Kelton. The board will strip Dr. Kelton of his status. His research will be discredited. He won’t be allowed within a mile of the University.”

  “But Alex and Beta won’t…” objected Chaz.

  “Leave Alex and Beta to me’” said Tilly. “They can be managed. You really don’t need them on the team, do you? Do they have any skills that you don’t?”

  Hesitantly, Chaz responded, “I have to think… They take care of …” More confidently, he said, ”They won’t be missed. They have just slowed down the research with the stupid jokes and the moony eyes. I have everything we need to proceed. We will need a couple of research assistants for scut work, but…”

  Tilly interrupted, “Yes, yes. We will need assistants, but Alex and Beta are on their way out. Will you have a problem with that?”

  Chaz shook his head.

  “I love ambition!” Jacob hooted. “You gotta really admire that can-do attitude, eh, Deekie-boy?”

  Kelton tried to reason with Chaz. “You can’t trust him. You’re going to be next on the chopping block. If he’ll do it with you, he’ll do it to you! Use your head!”

  “Give up, Doc! You aren’t going to get through to this one. Look at those stars in his eyes!”

  Kelton was surprised to see cartoon-like stars appear over Chaz’s eyes, which were immediately replaced by dollar signs.

  Jacob laughed at Kelton’s surprise, “ I love messing with you new guys. ”

  Tilly stared at Chaz. “I am a little concerned about the documentation that might be presented at the hearing today.”

  Chaz nodded. “Everything will be ready for the hearing this afternoon. You can count on it.”

  “I’m counting, Mr. Dixon. Now, get busy. I have more preparation for the meeting.”

  Jacob shuddered extravagantly. “Brrrrr! That guy gives me chills. He’s so good! A little flattery, a little coercion, an appeal to pride -did you ever see such an abrupt conversion? This is really shaping up to be a great day!”

  Something about Jacob’s enthusiasm left Kelton feeling uneasy. Jacob’s investment in the academic intrigue was out of proportion. “What are you getting out of this?” Kelton asked him.

  Jacob shrugged, “Like I told you. I get my fun where I can find it. I’m having fun, aren’t you? I think today’s hearing is gonna be a blast! Hang on to your hat and keep your hands and feet inside the ride at all times. We are gonna see some fireworks today!”

  Chaz rose from his chair. Jacob followed Chaz out of the room, whispering frantically into his ear.

  Kelton pleaded with Tilly. “There’s no need for this. There are too many problems with your plan. The emergency room team saw the box in operation. When I get out of the box, if you stay on this path, I have information that will end your career. There is still time to reconsider.“

  Tilly picked up the phone and dialed. “This is Dr. Tilly in the research dept. I am trying to get in touch with the University counsel. Please get back to me as soon as possible. I believe we are going to have to issue a restraining order for Dr. Deacon Kelton. We should act on this as soon as possible.” He left his phone number and hung up the phone. “There’s one more nail in your coffin, Dr. Kelton.” He said with a self-satisfied smile.

  Kelton paced the room, trying to come up with a plan. The frustration was devouring all conscious thought. There had to be something he could do, but his experiences so far were no help. He couldn’t communicate with the embodied in any meaningful way. He couldn’t touch or move anything. Jacob had cheered the annihilation of his career, his research, and his team. The threads that tied him to all that was important to him were being severed one by one while he watched. It would have been easier if it had all been done behind his back. He was an impotent participant in his own destruction. He wondered what he could have done differently. The experiment with the chicken was a mistake. It was a little thing that had turned into the pivot point that had rocked his entire life. Why should one little mistake cost him everything?

  Tilly was typing away on his laptop. “Here we go,” he said to himself. He jumped up, locked his office door, and returned to his computer. “We got interrupted earlier. I still need to be punished,” he said with a sly grin on his face. He typed a few keystrokes. “Talk to me, BikerBabe,” Tilly said under his breath.

  The computer speaker purred, “What do you want now, you slimy little worm?”

  Kelton fled the room. He went to the hallway and to his lab.