CHAPTER 2
I can't remember if I cried
When I read about his widowed bride,
But something touched me deep inside
The day the music died.
– Don McLean (American Pie)
=/\=
There were six chairs in the little conference area for the five of them on the team and Dr. Boris Yarin. He wasn't their full-time doctor – they shared him with other teams. But his expertise would help on that day.
Yarin arrived first and sat across from Carmen. He was part Klingon but also slight – there was something deep in his genome that was downsizing him.
Otra and Cavendish came in next. Otra was humanoid. About the only thing that betrayed her as being only half-Witannen was the absence of that species' small vestigial wings – which could make pure Witannen resemble a humanoid version of diving auks. But she did have the other major identifying characteristic of a Witannen – chavecoi, or flower-like appendages in lieu of hair. Chavecoi moved independently of the rest of a Witannen, and seeing them in action could be a tad unnerving to the uninitiated.
Cavendish, on the other hand, was wholly human, but he had his own issues. While he was a genius, he also had numerous personality issues, including multi-spectrum Asperger's and what used to be called Adult ADHD. If it had been five hundred years previously, he'd have been fitted with an electrical stimulator to his brain. If it had been a thousand years previously, he'd have been medicated into a stupor. If it had been two thousand years previous, he'd have been shunned. At twenty-five hundred years before the present time, he'd have been burned at the stake as a witch. A thousand years before that, he'd have been sacrificed to the gods. And a good four thousand years before even that, he'd have been hailed as a prophet.
But it was 3109, so instead he was studied and carefully tended, his genius respected and his quirks protected by law, so long as he posed no threat to himself or others. His brain was like a messy garden – it was fertile but off-putting.
His quirks had stopped being endearing a long time ago, to everyone, except, possibly, Otra, who was as gracious as Levi was rude, and a model of patience as he drummed his fingers on any available flat surface or bounced a leg.
Then Kevin arrived. He was mostly human, but with some Gorn deep in his ancestry, which made him huge and an unrepentant carnivore. He was also the most sentimental of all of them – a rare quality in someone who shared an appreciable minority of his genes with reptiles. But his sentimentality was, perhaps, wholly understandable, as his wife had died less than a year ago. Josie had been an exceptionally forgiving person, and had been sick for the better part of a decade. He had thrown himself into his work and rarely ever went home. There was little reason to frequent an empty house on Andoria.
Finally, Rick showed. He was almost as fully human as Cavendish, but a copper band on his left arm, next to a silver one, gave away a bit of Calafan parentage, from both sides of the pond. That is to say, he had ancestors from both this universe and its imperfect mirror, which had a twenty-centimeter radiation band to our twenty-one. From Earth? Yes. From Terra? Yes, that, too.
Carmen began, "I've got an allocation for five new FTEs. Boris, you're here because I'm looking to add a time traveling psychologist and a physician."
"Ah," Yarin said, "Someone who knows medical history would be good, as they could end up having to run an x-ray machine or even apply leeches to a patient's forehead. A pure human or close enough, of course, would be preferred."
"Exactly. For the psychologist, I have what I think is a good but very different kind of a candidate," Carmen said, "There's a regular entertainment program – mostly just audio. This woman takes calls and works on the callers' problems. She's also the advisor to the stars – regularly heads to Hollywood and to sports camps, to work on everything from stage fright to a batting slump."
"Ask Polly, right?" Otra asked.
"Yep," Carmen said.
"I fail to see why we need a psychologist," Levi said.
"Well, we might need someone who can be convincing," Otra pointed out.
"Logic would dictate, well, it would dictate only the most logical of choices," he replied.
"True," Carmen said, making every effort not to roll her eyes, "But most humans aren't quite so binary in their thinking."
"Well, they should be," Levi countered.
"Should and will are very different concepts," Kevin said, "I should lose weight. But will I? Eh, probably not, unless I make some pretty radical lifestyle adjustments."
"I'll take you to the gym," Rick offered, as Kevin took another danish.
"Focus, people!" Carmen commanded, "The convincing piece is a part of why I want Polly Porter. I also want her because she can broker compromises as well as any diplomat, and can do so without becoming starstruck. We all know about the Lafayette incident."
As, yes, Rick recalled. That had been a purely accidental problem. A historical observational expedition studying the French and Indian War had inadvertently caused a later rift between George Washington and the Marquis de Lafayette. With no Lafayette – oops! – The revolting colonies had no French support and 1776 was for naught. No United States of America, and all that that had entailed – gone in a flash. The ripple effects had been huge. And it all could've been prevented if someone had just sat the two men down together and smoothed a few ruffled feathers.
"Would she do it?" Rick asked.
"Possibly," Carmen said.
"She seems to be getting bored with her show," Otra said, "A new challenge could be just what she's looking for."
"What about the physician?" Kevin asked.
"We're back to someone who should know about leeches," Levi shuddered.
"At least I won't need such services," Rick said.
"Yes, stem cell growth accelerator. A great invention," Otra said, "You're practically indestructible."
"He can still be decapitated," Levi said, "Or a fast-moving virus could get him – but it would have to be something really devastating, like Marburg or Ebola."
There were assorted danish on the table and Kevin had been about ready to take a third when he thought better of that, "Uh, Boris here isn't out of a job just yet."
"Not yet," Yarin replied, "I can check my connections. I take it you want someone young."
"Yes, and they need to be at least a good 75% human," Carmen stated, "Anyone traveling to Pre-Warp Earth or Terra has got to be able to readily blend in. No offense, Otra."
"None taken."
"Uh, Yarin, if you want to go, feel free," Carmen said, "The other three FTEs will need to be different."
"All right," he said, and departed, after grabbing a blueberry danish.
"Now, I am open to suggestions," Carmen said, "Rick, what have you needed?"
"Huh," he thought for a moment, "Someone who knows old-fashioned computer systems could be of use. A military guy, as well."
"What about someone with more of an understanding of the rural life?" Kevin asked, "I mean, you go far enough Pre-Warp, and people are riding horses."
"That might or might not have been useful for Lafayette," Rick conceded, "But actually, a woman who knows protocols would be good. There was a State Dinner I had to go to for that. Going stag isn't a problem for a man, but a partner could've helped cover a lot more ground."
"What about someone in the arts?" Otra asked.
"Arts?" Carmen inquired.
"If you're talking about an eighteenth century State Dinner, then someone may have been playing a harpsichord, yes?"
"So far, the only suggestion that makes any sense is to get someone who knows computers," Levi complained.
"Are you gonna wanna do any internal hiring for the office?" Kevin asked.
"Maybe. What did you have in mind?" Carmen asked.
"Possibly someone who knows historical fashions and stuff like that – this would be an old-fashioned Quartermaster."
"We have computers for that," Levi said.
"True, but there could be a few things to coordinate, I am thinking. It's not just clothing but it's also overall style, makeup, hair, even fingernail length," Carmen pointed out.
"Also, someone to help me out," Kevin said, "Er, us," he quickly added, when Levi shot him a look.
"Oh?" Carmen asked.
"There's Deirdre Katzman. She's been a lotta help lately. Her name is going on the dark matter temporal propulsion patent. Maybe it's time to get her full-time and stop sharing her with the Vulcans and the Xindi."
"Didn't she name the time ships?" Rick asked.
"Yep. We've got the HG Wells, the Audrey Niffenegger, the Flux Capacitor and the Jack Finney," Kevin ticked them off on his fingers, "She likes old time travel fiction, what can I tell ya?"
"But the Audrey's been decommissioned," Otra pointed out.
"There's a new one being built, the Audrey II," Kevin said.
"With only four ships – and only three right now – and Rick is already committed to being in the Wells, I'd say that you can't hire five FTE travelers anyway, unless you just want to use the time portals," Otra said.
"Hmm, and we need the ships to go to other universes like the mirror, or if we have to transport a lot of people at once. Maybe we can bring in part-timers," Carmen conceded, "The problem with them is they'd still have to pass all background checks and follow all protocols. It's not so easy to do if they're also going to jobs elsewhere."
"That would be the case with Polly Porter though, right?" Kevin asked, "I mean, she probably can't just up and leave her own show without it being some sort of a major news story."
"Right," Carmen said, "Let's do this. I'll get in touch with Porter. As for the other openings, we'll do some discreet digging. I'll also see Katzman but she might just keep her current position for now. If I can get the Commission to hold onto her overall hours, I can save an FTE and use the allocation for another body. Send me your recommendations, I'll sift through them and then we'll see about bringing in our top candidates."
"I still say we only need – maybe – the computers specialist," Levi said.
"Your objection is duly noted. Dismissed," Carmen said.
=/\=
So Bye-Bye, Miss American Pie.
Drove my Chevy to the levee,
But the levee was dry.
And them good old boys were drinkin' whiskey and rye
Singin', "This'll be the day that I die.
This'll be the day that I die."
– Don McLean (American Pie)