9
Tim had spent his night in the state of delighted excitement that was more usual in a child on Christmas Eve. He tried to relax and eventually managed to get some sleep so he wasn't too tired for what was likely to be a long day.
He'd arrived at the lab just before five, and wasn't surprised to find David Oster already at his computer.
"Hey Tyler, thanks for coming in, I've just been going over your plans, they look good. Aidan Tooley, one of our engineers will be here soon and we can get started on the modifications."
The three men worked together, and just before 7.30 Tooley declared himself satisfied. "You know Tyler, I think this is going to work, and with the extra control over the throttle our pilot will have a better chance of the take-off being smooth."
"Thanks Aidan, the test will show us for sure, but I'm hoping for the best." Tim had enjoyed working on the actual jetpack; 3D computer imaging was great for experimenting with ideas, but nothing could substitute for the real thing. Literally being able to get his hands on a machine that could propel a man into the air had been a thrill he'd never expected to experience. However, he hadn't lost sight of why he was at Inanna and he'd been careful to watch what everyone was doing; so far there didn't seem to be anything untoward. Tim knew he had to be extra vigilant during the test, there'd be a lot of new faces around and he'd need to be sure to note any names that might warrant further investigation.
By 08.30 they were out at the test site and Tim was keeping a careful watch on everyone and everything, at least as much as he could. Instead of the four or five people he'd been working with in the lab, there were fifteen people milling around the area.
Everything was ready for the flight and Tim was setting up his laptop ready to record the flight data when he heard someone approach.
"Hey Tyler, David tells me you're already coming up with new ideas."
"Morning Mr Elwood, just hope the idea pans out." Tim shook hands with Saul Elwood. "You have a good trip sir?"
Elwood gave a short laugh. "Saul is fine Tyler, when someone calls me Mr Elwood I always look around to see if my dad's in the room. The trip..." Elwood shrugged. "Endless meetings, seems like I haven't seen daylight since Saturday, it's good to be outside. Looks like David's all ready to go, I'll talk to you later."
Tim settled back at his computer and felt a flutter of excitement in his gut as Derek Pascoe; Inanna's test pilot was strapped into his harness. This was it, the flight was about to begin, he checked the computer quickly; everything was running as it should, so he was able to concentrate on the flight and on the other spectators.
Trying his best not to focus all of his attention on the flight Tim noticed two people engaged in deep conversation, they were standing a little apart from the main group and somewhat surprisingly they had their backs to the flight. Tim recognised Jad Hudson, a graduate student who was working on a paper he hoped to publish in Scientific American. The woman he was with Tim didn't know, and there was no way he could take a picture; he'd have to try and wangle an introduction later, add her name to the list for Gibbs and the others.
Derek Pascoe powered down the jetpack and made a smooth landing, there was a round of applause from the spectators and Tim had a broad smile on his face. Everything had gone even better than planned and Inanna could chalk up another successful test flight. He backed up all the data to a thumb drive and powered down his computer.
"So Tim, what do you think?"
"It was okay I guess." Tim gave a mock shrug but he couldn't keep up the pretence and his smile got even wider. "Seriously David? It was absolutely amazing; the only thing better than this would be actually flying one of those things."
Oster clapped his hand on Tim's shoulder. "Who knows Tyler? As the saying goes; never say never. Now, let's leave Aidan and his guys to pack everything away here. I want to get back to the lab right away and start working on the data."
"I'm ready when you are."
They spent the rest of the day analysing the data; Tim had a few ideas for improving the pack and he stayed late mapping them on the computer. He left Inanna just before 9pm, quietly content with his day's work. He hadn't simply come up with a real improvement to the throttle; he'd also been able to come up with a name for the woman he'd seen talking with Jad Hudson. Saul Elwood told Tim she'd been interviewed at the same time as Jad for the student post; Kathryn Gardiner had been unsuccessful, but she remained on good terms with Hudson and Sean didn't have any objection to her tagging along with him to watch the test flight.
Tim wasn't so sure she was as innocent as she seemed and when he got home he quickly composed his regular email to 'Ali', this time he included one of their key phrases. 'I've found a great coffee shop, just like the one back home."
If everything went to plan one of the team would be in the coffee shop near Tyler's apartment when Tim visited the next day.
NCIS NCIS
Tim hadn't finished writing his notes until after midnight; luckily he'd fallen asleep right away and had slept through until his alarm sounded. At 7.30am he was finishing his drink in the local Caribou Coffee, he folded up his newspaper, left it on the table and stood up ready to leave; Ziva walked by and glanced at the paper.
"Excuse me, are you done with this?"
Tim smiled. "Yeah, sure, take it." He carried on walking, headed out to the parking lot and got into his car. He saw Ziva sitting at the table he'd vacated, flicking through the newspaper, she would soon finish her own coffee and head back to NCIS armed with today's Washington Post and several pages of handwritten notes.
As Tim accelerated away he felt a slight pang; much as he was relishing his assignment, he would have enjoyed going to the Navy Yard, running the searches and spending time with Abby and the others. It wasn't to be, not until he'd completed this operation and it only took a few seconds to get back into his 'Tyler' persona.
NCIS NCIS
He was soon well into the swing of lab work, David had come up with some new ideas he wanted them to get working on right away.
"You see Tyler, right here? If we adjust the air intake in the duct, alongside the new throttle control you've given us I'm thinking..."
"Quicker vertical thrust."
David grinned, it was so good to have someone who was on his own wavelength, with so many other assistants he'd had to explain every single step, but Tyler seemed like a perfect fit, it was like he could almost read his mind. They set up the new protocols and by mid afternoon they were ready to test the modifications.
David gave a shrill whistle reminiscent of Gibbs bringing his team to attention; everyone stopped what they were doing. "Aidan's got everything set up in the flight simulator, I want each and every second of the flight recorded, we have a DoD inspection coming up and we can't afford to miss anything."
By the time the test was done most members of the lab team were fighting to keep their eyes open. The Technical Director was proud of the way his technicians handled the simulation, everything had gone well and the data was being processed, the results wouldn't be finalised until morning so he sent everyone home, except Tim. David had been talking with Derek Pascoe and now there was something he wanted to ask his latest recruit.
"Hey Tyler, you ready to head home?"
"I'm good David, maybe some of the figures will be ready soon, and...well, I don't have anyone to hurry home to."
"Me either." David sat down beside Tim. "I noticed you yesterday, the look in your eyes when you were watching the flight."
Tim blushed a little. "I thought I'd done a pretty good job of staying professional."
"Oh you did Tyler, you did a great job, but I'm enough of a jetpack nut that I can recognise another one when I see him. So, if you don't have to hurry home, how would you like to try out the simulator, get a taste of what it feels like to fly?"
Not even attempting to hide his delight Tim gave a broad smile, then he took a breath. "You're not kidding with me David? You really mean..."
"I wouldn't kid over something like this; I've always been too..." David patted his ample stomach. "Let's just say I don't fulfil the weight criteria, but you should be fine; come on, Aidan's waiting for us and Derek agreed to guide you through. What are you waiting for? Let's do it."
NCIS NCIS
Lying in his bed and trying to calm down so he could get some sleep, Tim reflected on one of the most amazing experiences of his life. He'd barely left the ground, and he didn't actually fly, but being strapped into the simulator and experiencing all the sensations that would come with real flight had almost taken his breath away.
Pascoe had taken him through the controls and explained some of the difficulties inherent in jetpack flight, and the first few times he'd tried to fly Tim had come to earth with a bump, least he would have done if he had taken off. After a few bumpy rides Tim had begun to get the hang of things and soon he was feeling as if he was king of the world. Derek had been grinning as he helped Tim out of the harness at the end of the session.
"You look like a natural to me Ty, hard to believe this was your first time; hey, do you mind if I call you Ty?"
"Like my grandmother always used to say, call me what you want, just don't call me too late."
"Good one! I'll have to remember that. We'll schedule a few more simulator sessions for you; don't know why I hadn't thought of it before, but it would be good is at least one of you lab guys had a feel for what the jetpack's really like in operation."
Tim nodded in vigorous agreement. Derek was right, experiencing for himself the range of motion and the feel of flight was infinitely better than watching 3D images on a monitor. So long as he kept his eye on his ultimate goal, Tim was happy to help the development of the jetpack any way he could, and if he got to taste what flying was like, so much the better.
NCIS NCIS
After finally getting off to sleep around 2am Tim was back at Inanna by 7.30, it felt like there was so much to do he shouldn't waste time sitting around at home. He pushed open the door to the lab and was surprised by two things, one, he'd beaten David to work, and two, Lucy Brogan was in there. She was an admin assistant who worked with Miriam Lockhart, Tim was pretty sure this was the first time he'd seen her in one of the technical areas.
With a hurried. "Oh, hi Tyler, I...I was looking for Sean." She headed towards the door.
Her quick downward glance told Tim she was lying; and he hadn't seen Cullen's car in the parking lot when he arrived, but he put on a smile and shrugged. "Haven't seen him, if I do, you want me to let him know you're looking for him?"
Lucy blushed. "No...no thank you, it isn't urgent, I'll catch him later." She hurried down the corridor and Tim was left alone.
He checked the lab, but he couldn't see anything out of place and the computers were all switched off; nonetheless, there was something hinky about Lucy being here, looked like he had another name to add to the list for NCIS.
David came in a few minutes later, full of ideas for some changes to the ducts. They worked together the rest of the day, inputting the changes into the design program, collecting the new data from the previous day's simulation, and if he could Tim asked a few seemingly innocuous questions about Kathryn Gardiner and Lucy Brogan, mostly people thought he was checking out to see whether they were single and Tim didn't bother to correct them.
It was in the coffee room late in the afternoon that Miriam took him to one side. "Tyler, I know you probably have plans already, I'm so late asking you, I can't believe I forgot."
Tim waited, and when Miriam remained silent he asked. "What did you forget?"
She smacked her palm against her forehead. "See, I'm doing it again, I get sidetracked so easily. We have a tradition...well, it's the second year we've done it, a barbecue for Labor Day. Everyone is invited, family members too, so if you don't have plans you're more than welcome."
It only took Tim a second or two to decide attending the barbecue would be an excellent idea. It would give him an unlooked for opportunity to get to know the Inanna personnel better, and maybe just as important, he could get to know their families too.
"Sounds great Miriam, I wasn't looking forward to spending the day alone."
"You're welcome to bring someone Tyler, like I said, family members too."
Tim shook his head. "My family's down in Florida, and my girlfriend...she's out in San Diego, we didn't want her to move out here until I know the job's permanent."
Miriam caught the wistful tone in his voice. "You miss her?"
"Oh yeah, I really do."
The remainder of Tim's day had been spent fine-tuning the throttle adjustments and discussing with Aidan the new duct settings, they'd decided to arrange some new tests for Tuesday. Tim went home happy, and after writing up his notes on the day's events he managed to get eight hours sleep.
NCIS NCIS
Tim sipped his coffee, enjoying a little Saturday morning leisure time; he'd have willingly gone into Inanna but Sean had insisted everyone enjoy the long holiday weekend.
"We work hard, and we put in long hours, take three days, kick back, spend time with your families. Make the most of it everyone, because once we start work again Tuesday it will likely be non-stop until the DoD inspection. Go people, before I change my mind."
So now, Tim was sitting in his apartment deciding what to do with his day, the intercom sounded and with a slightly puzzled expression he pressed the button, and smiled as a familiar voice called out. "Cable guy!"
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