She stood in front of her crazy wall, eyes fixated on the Post-it note marked X. Her cell phone rang, startling her. Still thinking of Mr. X, she accepted the encrypted call.
“Hello,” she answered.
“Hey, Alex, it’s Brian. Did you send it?”
“Umm… send what?” she asked without thinking.
“Oh… you forgot,” Brian responded, his disappointment discernible in his voice. “You were going to send me the email activity logs for the product and R&D teams.”
Oh, shit, she mouthed quietly as she heard Brian’s explanation.
“Oh, that,” she said, trying to fix it. “No, I haven’t forgotten. I’m on it as we speak. I thought you meant something else. You’ll have it in just a few, Brian.”
She ended the call with an irritated hand gesture and rushed to her laptop, swearing colorfully as she trotted in a hurry to make up some of the lost time. She hated to disappoint her team; yet lately it seemed that was all she was capable of doing.
Her old case was killing her, driving her crazy. She needed to close that chapter once and for all. She needed to catch the bastard.
…20
John Baxter, Navy liaison and VP Navy Programs, entered the conference room wearing a smile that didn’t fool anyone. Tall and slim, with thinning, buzz-cut, gray hair, and a very straight back, Baxter emanated corporate efficiency. His charcoal suit, white shirt, and burgundy tie brought the final touches to his professional demeanor; the man was all business.
He looked around the conference room, nodding greetings to the five people present, then checked his agenda briefly.
“Good, we’re all here. Let’s get started.”
Baxter cleared his throat quietly, then continued, “Welcome to Project Z1005LC1, everyone. You have been invited to participate in this TOP SECRET project based on your skills, expertise, and record of achievement. Congratulations!”
Most of Baxter’s audience nodded a silent thank you. Some even smiled a little.
Baxter continued his introduction.
“The project’s scope is the evaluation, readiness, and installation of the first laser cannon onboard a stealth destroyer, the USS Fletcher. The Fletcher is a Zumwalt-class destroyer, as some of you may know, hull number DDG1005.”
Baxter paused for a few seconds, waiting for questions that didn’t come.
“Let’s introduce the team and define roles and accountabilities,” he stated. “You probably all know Bob McLeod, technical director, Navy Installation Projects. He will be the project manager for Z1005LC1. Most of you have worked with him before. Some of you report to him. Bob has excellent experience in prototype assessment and installation; that experience will come in handy on this project.”
Bob McLeod nodded slightly, thanking Baxter for his appreciative words.
“Sylvia Copperwaite,” Baxter continued, making an introductory hand gesture toward the only woman in the room, “will be in charge of the mobile platform installation. She’s a highly accomplished electromechanical engineer, and holds a PhD in computational modeling for mobile-platforms installations. She’s also an expert in mobile remote-sensing technology. Both her areas of expertise will prove useful for this particular project. Welcome, Sylvia.”
“Thank you, John,” she replied.
“Faisal Kundi,” Baxter continued the introductions, pointing toward a dark-haired man with an intense look in his eyes, “is the embedded software engineer who’s going to make sure the laser cannon can actually be fired and can hit the target.”
Faisal nodded silently, the expression on his face remaining concentrated, intense, serious.
“Quentin Hadden,” Baxter moved on, “is our weapons systems expert. He will be in charge of deploying controls and running tests. He has some exposure to the laser cannon from its research and prototype testing days.”
Quentin’s frown didn’t disappear as he acknowledged Baxter’s comments.
“Finally, Vernon Blackburn,” Baxter said, “brings to the project team a PhD in laser applications. He will be our laser optics expert. The cannon’s ability to fire a shot is under his purview. He is also familiar with laser weapons systems, or LaWS. He was part of the original R&D team, so he can probably answer more questions about the laser cannon than I can.”
Vernon smiled shyly.
“Any questions so far?” Baxter asked.
No one offered.
“All right, then. Deployment starts on Monday. Please use the rest of today to wrap up or park your remaining active items. Please make sure your attention will be undivided while you work on this project. The Fletcher is ready for your visit; her location is in the documentation in front of you. Captain Anthony Meecham will make himself available to you at all times.”
Baxter gave them a few seconds to process the information, then continued.
“Pay attention, think sharp, make notes of everything you see that will help us deploy laser weapons systematically without any hiccups. Part of the project’s list of deliverables is writing the first draft of the laser cannon installation manual.” He straightened his tie a little, then said, “Good luck to all of you. Make me proud!”
…21
Back in his own office, Bob McLeod closed the office door gently and immediately leaned against it, staring at the ceiling and letting out a long sigh.
“Motherfucker…” he whispered.
He loosened his tie a little, not leaving the support offered by the door. It was unbelievable… He couldn’t wrap his head around the fact that no matter what he did, he never got promoted.
He had joined Walcott eight years before, as technical director for Navy installations, and he was still technical director for the same Navy installations. He had a top-notch record of accomplishments, yet it was always people like Baxter who were the vice presidents, while he was being forgotten in the director role. What did Baxter have that he didn’t?
Project after project after project, they were all the same routine. Yes, bring in the invaluable Bob McLeod to do the work for us, spend his days on and off ships of all sorts, moored all over the place. This way, he can enjoy the cold, humidity, and oblivion, as far from corporate headquarters as possible for yet another year or so, while people like Baxter become senior vice presidents, climbing the ladder on the fruits of his labor. How did Baxter even become a VP? He seemed to have had that role for a while… Was he born a fucking VP?
No matter how hard Bob tried, he couldn’t figure out why he was repeatedly assigned on projects as lead, but never promoted. His career had been at a standstill since the day he entered the corporate headquarters of Walcott Global Technologies, a thick, impenetrable glass ceiling keeping him from advancing. Even his applauded patents didn’t make much of a difference; for the most impressive one he had received a ten-thousand dollar bonus, then nothing. No mention of it again. And he knew for sure that patent was worth many millions for his employer.
If things didn’t change, if a miracle didn’t happen soon, he would probably end up retiring as technical director, having effectively killed his career by waiting on these people to recognize his value and promote him. He still had a good twenty years until retirement, but at this pace, yeah, he’d still be a technical director at that point.