Author's Note:
Sorry that this chapter is so short, but there's not much to be said here. This part is dedicated to any poor student who has ever been chewed out by an irate teacher/professor/principal/administrative official. I understand that it's much the same anywhere you go. You people know who you are.
Also, we now present Dashiell, the resident throw-away character of the chapter. Again, a one-shot character who will more than likely never show up again. If you'd like, pretend he's the smart-ass from Gabe's class (Part 1, Chapter 10). Thanks once more to all reviewers, and on a final note, the next update will probably not be until next Monday, rather than Sunday.
Cheers,
The Nightrunners
The Devil is in the Details
"What do you mean, he isn't here?!?"
The raised voice echoed through the hallways of the administrative building. It shook the coffee cup on the desk of the office, also causing a chain-reaction that toppled the in-box into the garbage can. Throughout the building, people scurried away from the sound and uttered silent prayers of thanks that they weren't the ones in trouble.
The unfortunate focus of this ire was one Dashiell Barrack, a graduate student of Princeton University.
He was, at the moment, silently cursing the vagaries of fate that left him to explain Professor Gleason's ill-excused absence to an irate dean of science. He took a deep breath, and attempting to control his trembling, he replied:
"W-well, he asked me to cover his, his undergrad classes, just for a few days." Nervous as he was, Dashiell wasn't stupid, and he decided that his favourite prof needed some serious ass-covering. He also decided that there was no need to tell the Dean that Gleason had cancelled all his graduate classes, and his actual words had been 'several weeks', rather than 'a few days'. He also neglected to mention that there were two other grad students covering the classes, and by unspoken consensus, the students were keeping his absence quiet. Unfortunately, a few days was the most that a deception like this could hope to last, proven by Dashiell's summons to the Dean's office.
The Associate Dean of Science of Princeton University, better known as Gabe's boss, was not a patient nor an easygoing man. Although, to be fair, under the circumstances, his reaction was somewhat understandable. He had, after all, just discovered that one of the Geosciences department's tenured professors had disappeared.
"Did he give you a *reason* for this absence?" The Dean's tone had gone rather icy, and Dashiell was certain that he would momentarily be quite dead.
"Well sir, he mentioned some 'family difficulties'." Dashiell continued quickly, as the Dean looked like he was about to explode once more. "He was not forthcoming with details. Private matter, I think. Very private." This, also, was not quite true. Gabe's actual words had run along the lines of: 'Dash, an old friend stopped by today, dug up an old problem that needs taking care of. Cover me, will you?' This, Dashiell figured, would not go over well with the school official, resulting in his creative re-interpretation of the explanation.
The Dean massaged his temples, making a visible effort to calm himself. "All right. So he's taking a few days off. How long has he been gone?"
Dashiell stiffened visibly. "Three days, sir."
The older man's patience seemed to be hanging on by one fraying thread. He spoke slowly: "And he hasn't spoken to you since then?"
"Um, no sir."
"And when were you planning on telling me he was gone, Mr. Barrack?"
The grad student swallowed nervously, sensing that he was venturing out on thin ice once more. He resisted the urge to tell the pompous Dean that he sure as hell wasn't the only one covering for Gleason, but simply the only one that had gotten caught.
"We - I mean I- didn't feel it would really merit your attention, sir." He shrugged, trying to appear casual. "He's only been gone a few days, sir. I'm sure he'll be back soon, and you're so busy, I didn't really think-"
"Professor Gleason and I are going to have a small discussion when he returns," the older man interrupted. The Dean's voice, frighteningly enough, had become almost gleeful. Mixed with the ever-present rage, it wasn't a pretty sight.
Dashiell thought that this wasn't entirely fair, and since he was the human sacrifice offered up by the collective of Gabe's students, he felt that he should at least do his best to defend the absent professor. "Actually sir, this is uncharacteristic of Professor Gleason. I mean, I've had him for six years, off and on, and I've never known him to miss a class."
This was a good point, and his concern here was genuine. He *was* worried, after all. Gabriel Gleason had bailed him out once, back in his second year. He certainly would have flunked out of the Earth Sciences program without the professor's help and extra tutoring. At the time, the man had struck him as a very good teacher, with a genuine liking for his students. Not at all like the arrogant Dean before him. Gleason sounded like he was dealing with some trouble, and Dashiell didn't like the fact that he hadn't heard anything in three days. *That* was unusual for the normally responsible teacher.
Unfortunately, the Dean didn't share his concerns. "I really don't care. Professor Gleason had better be back in his office by the end of the week. Otherwise. There. Will. Be. Trouble! Is that *clear*?"
The Dean's voice reached a previously unrecorded volume, and Dashiell resisted the urge to cower under the desk. This had all seemed so simple a few days before, when his professor had asked for this 'small favour'. After all, he certainly owed the man enough favours. At the time, the request had seemed perfectly reasonable, though Dashiell had been struck by a strange thought. From deep in his subconscious, he'd seen an image of Professor Gleason attacking him with an axe, had he refused the request...
...Yet now, quaking under the might of the Dean's ire, Dashiell Barrack rather thought that decapitation was the better way to die, and was probably less messy...