"If NASA's DC-8 Airborne Laboratory was still conducting NAMMA research missions, probing an easterly atmospheric wave off the African continent, than these easterly waves are storm systems that occasionally develop into tropical cyclones, and the main purpose of NAMMA was to find out the differences between the developing and non-developing waves."
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"My question is why would NAMMA need to still be in research if the Zipser Crew had already returned from Africa with all the information that NAMMA was created to receive in the first place?"
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Silence
"OH GLORIOUS!!" A red headed woman in a white lab suit jumped up and down clapping her hands as she twirled, "I've got it! They are in so much trouble!"
"What is it Kori?" An elderly man scratched his beard as he watched his apprentice dance around the room.
"Don't you see, Mr. Wicox? NASA's men working in the DC-8 Airborne Labs are wasting money and fuel. They are the ones taking from our major savings for the Zargethian project!" Her green eyes burned with passion as she sat down, determined, "Now the only issue left is to some how find a way to prove that in court. It's selfish and, from their excessive withdrawals from NASA's savings, systematically against protocol. It's… It's… -What's the other "S" word for it?- silly!"
"Ms. Anders," Henry Wicox sighed, "The only silly issue here is that you are spending too much time scheming against our rivals and not enough working on the Zargethian project yourself."
"Oh hardly!" Kori giggled, "If I had it my way, I wouldn't even need to wait for NASA to make up their mind on funding us. I could be in the Zargethian solar system and back before this week was over."
"Play by the rules, Kori." Wicox eyed her, suspiciously. A slight smile began on his face, as he walked toward the exit, "I know how frustrating this all may be for you, but really, just be patient and soon, we'll be on top."
"Good, it's about time," Kori sighed, thinking to herself, gazing at her computer, which was busy deciphering the mixed up codes and languages of the Zargethian solar system, "Being on bottom is getting old."
"I bet," Wicox grinned, pushing in his access code he let the door slide open, "See you at lunch. Oh, and Kori?"
He turned back to face her.
"Yes, Sir?" She turned toward him.
"Don't work too hard," he smiled, "We may get paid really stinking well in this business, but not enough to forget the meaning of fun. So, take a break sometime, you look like you need it."
With a mumbling chuckle he left.
"Right," she sighed resting her chin on her hand, "A break."
She pressed her password in and methodically checked every program twice for efficiency. Scanning for viruses and other means of invasion of the 'governments' documents, she tapped her free hand on the brown desk. Nothing resided on the desk, no witty comic strips, no commonly seen family pictures of loved ones cluttering her desk, nothing.
Her eyes began to well up as she willed her self to hold those VERY noticeable tears. Coworkers have very often queried her lack of pictures, and even her boss, Mr. Wicox, had questioned her family life.
The answer was always the same:
"I have no family to take pictures of," Kori Anders mumbled sadly. Ms. Anders -also known as Doctor Anders- was second in command and recent heir to all the SSRT, Solar System Reseach Team, founded and ran by none other than the great Henry Wicox. Bright, vibrant eyes blazed, as Kori now sat at her Hp Pavilion MX 704 pulling up the one artifact that the Committee refused to let her or anyone in her field get their hands on.
The Zargethian Emerald.
It was the only lead they had to discovering intelligent life forms in the Zargethian solar system, and as greedy as NASA is, she couldn't even so much as evaluate it thoroughly until she had a written 'OK' from the NASA Science Security team. Each and every one of them.
"Twenty people to go through just for a stinking gem," Sarcasm and boredom dripped from her lips. She tiredly lifted her coffee cup to her lips, thirsting for caffeine, only to find it empty, "And I'm out of coffee. Grand."
Sighing, she slam the cup down a little too hard and the glass shattered everywhere.
"Maybe I do need a break," She said to herself, as she bent down and began picking up the pieces, "Everything here seems to be taking so long. My life has officially became boring… it's sooo…R-"
"Routine?"
Kori jumped at the voice that suddenly filled the room, and in doing so sliced her hand open with a shard of ceramic from the mug.
"Dammit!" Kori cursed, looking up to see who had invaded her office. Shock filled her face, "Ra-"
"Rachel," A woman with long black hair strolled out of a dark corner. Her cold, violet eyes held the same strange mystery about them as they had many years ago, "It's Rachel Roth, now. Sorry to scare you, Dr. Kori Anders."
"Rachel," Kori tried it on her tongue, before looking back at her cut and continuing nervously, "It's just Kori, and uh…It's fine, I'm… I'm not gonna die."
Green blood spilled from the gnash on her hand and on to the floor.
"Here, let me," Rachel walked up to her and placed a icy, gray hand above the cut.
"Azarath. Metrion. Zinthos."
Kori watched intently, as Rachel chanted in a near silent voice. The red headed scientist made absolutely certain not to let any emotion appear on her face.
"There ya go," Rachel smiled with slight shock, before standing up.
"Thank you," Kori also stood, the shattered mug forgotten. She fingered the slight scar that had now replaced the once bleeding cut, "To what do I owe this lovely visit, friend Rachel?"
Rachel's smile remained on her dark face, but she did take note of the emphasized word.
"You know, the press would have a field day if they knew who we were and that we are together." Kori hinted, with a small graceful smirk.
"Oh, I can see it now," Raven took a seat at Kori's desk, "Former Titans Find Love In NASA Headquarters: How Raven Confesses Her Undying Love For Starfire."
Kori chuckled softly, nervously doing an unintentional scan of the area, "I must say, I haven't heard that one before."
"Doesn't mean it won't be posted. The press is so asinine."
"What do you need, Rachel?" Kori sighed, getting to business, she was always about business now a days. Funny how much a decade could change a person.
"Oh, nothing too special, I suppose. I'm doing research on a book I'm writing, and you are the only friend I have that has access to complete universal knowledge." Rachel smiled.
Kori found that weird, considering. Raven? Full of smiles? What?
"Oh, and I kind of missed you."
Kori giggled slightly hugging her far left shoulder, "Well, thank you. I wouldn't say I'm universally wise, but shoot. What's your book about?"
"The Azarathian solar system…" Rachel shrugged, as if it didn't mean as much to her as it really did.
"I figured you'd know more about it than me. That is your planet's solar system after all," Kori pointed out, slightly confused.
"I know, normally I would, but I haven't had the chance to revisit my 'past,' if you will. And I heard you just recently had funding on it about six years ago, before this whole Zargethian nonsense."
"Rachel," Kori inhaled sharply, "It was destroyed, you should have known that. It was on the news, we were carded for a waste of money. How do you think we're stuck on the bottom of NASA's projects?"
"I guess, with all the writing I do, T.V. is sorta out of the question," Rachel sighed.
"Oh, I'm so sorry, Rach-" Kori let her head drop, ashamed.
"Don't worry about it," Rachel shook her head, "I asked truthfully expecting a truthful answer, and you didn't fail me. Thank you."
"I'm still sorry." Kori whispered.
"I know you are, Kori," Rachel closed her eyes, seconds passed, "How?"
Kori's head snapped up at the question.
"How did it happen?" The dark lady queried, suddenly serious, "Was it Trigon?"
"No," Kori shook her head, "It was considered a mystery. All that was left was rock and decay… kind of like the whole solar system blew up, with radiation levels sky rocketing and some harsh pull… like your planet morphed into a invisible disambiguation or something. Luckily for us, we got the F6-2089 with major quantum tunneling boosters or something that the rocket science nerds happened to install. It was a pure luck and weirdly conducted."
Rachel stared at her red headed friend. Kori's change over the years was pretty apparent, obviously.
"But as for your home… it's mystery by NASA's books… unfortunately, it wasn't worth the money we petitioned for… we're still laughed at in the lunch room." Kori sighed, with slight bitterness.
"Thank you, Kori." Rachel stood and turned to leave.
"I wish I could be of more help," Kori eyed her friend, soft caring, eyes stared back defying whatever was bound to come out of Rachel's mouth next, "But I don't know what to tell you."
"Whatever," Rachel shrugged it off, and began walking away.
"Have you heard from them?" Kori asked, suddenly.
Rachel stopped in her tracks, "No," she shook her head, "Beastboy disappeared completely, and as for you, me, Victor, and… well, the rest of us are the really obvious ones. Constantly, in the mags."
"But have you heard from them at all?" Kori pried, "Do you know how they are doing?"
"Not really, Kor. We all left if off with not ever speaking to each other, you know that." Rachel scrunched her nose, "In case you don't remember, after you left we sort of fell apart. Numbers weren't exchanged."
"Well you know, duty calls," Kori mumbled to herself, Rachel understood.
"But according to the paper, I'm the best book writer in the nation… soon to be world-wide, mind you, now that my books are being printed in Japanese, Welsh, Greek, Romanian, and Spanish. More was to come in the near future." Rachel smirked proudly to herself for a while, "Big bad Nightwing has taken the liberty to kick all of bad guy butt in Jump City with his new batch of Titans, and they just finished a major induction, by the way. Three new members now, I hear. Which is going good, considering those other two left at a pretty critical time."
Kori tried staying emotionless tried holding her pain in… trying is not always doing. She faultered… she sighed.
Rachel looked up and saw what she expected to see on the alien's face, sorrow.
"Victor Stone of STAR labs," She decided it better to continue, "Is conducting experiments on electrical devices for prosthetic body parts and all has been going 'honkey dory', according to his words or whatever. And finally, you. Doctor Kori Anders, the leading on-action researcher of NASA's Solar System Research Team since the great Henry Wicox. Also not to mention you are next in line to inherit the whole SSRT, after Wicox's death and, after some recent news, an efficient mission by NASA's standards."
"You have no time for T.V, but you can memorize all that?" Kori scoffed at her friend.
"True, you got me there, but what can I say, the Teen Titans were my only real friends," Rachel shook her head as she made to leave again, "I couldn't continue on with my lonely life without checking up on the only people that made me feel at 'home' at least once, right?"
"And as for Beastboy?" Kori rose a brow.
"We weren't as close as I had hoped when we left. Like I previously stated, numbers weren't exchanged," Rachel sighed, hiding all signs of remorse… fortunately for her, she's had better practice, "I'd gladly keep an eye on him if it were that easy."
"Bye, Raven," Kori smiled truthfully for once in for what seemed like forever, "Thank you for the visit."
"You're welcome, Starfire," Rachel opened a portal though the shadows again, but not before smiling back, "Listen to the old man, Take a break!"
Raven was gone.
"A break?" Kori giggled, bending back down to pick up the fallen mug. Scanning the lab she had spent seven years slaving in she sighed with remorse and slight determination, "After the Zargethian project, I think I'll take a vacation."