Myths of the Modern Man Read Free Page B

confident that you are the person for the assignment, I am confident as well.” She said, shooting a look to Dr. Ford, who clasped his hands over his knee. I don’t think he cared who went; astronauts were all loose cannons as far as he was concerned. He had little use for adventurers. He would have rather had a sedate and responsible historian be shot through time, somebody who knew how to analyze, ask questions, and take notes, but somebody other than him.
    “ When do we meet the press?” I asked.
    Dr. Roberts smirked and gave me her disapproving expression again.
    “ We do not. General English is handling the press conference alone this time. He believes the process will be carried out in a more expedient fashion than having us all put on display.”
    “ Still upset about the last press conference, aren’t you?”
    “ You insulted the media, broke a reporter’s finger simply because he pointed it at you, and started a riot. Let’s just say it was a tough day.”
    “ I did apologize at some point. It was in the press kit.”
    Dr. Ford smiled for the first time.
    “ Colonel Moore,” he said, “I’d like to offer my congratulations, too. And a hope for the best possible outcome.”
    “ What would that be?”
    “ Just getting you home alive.”
    “ There’s a bit more to it than that, Dr. Ford.” Dr. Roberts interjected, but Ford continued.
    “ Don’t worry so much about fact gathering. You’re not a detective, you’re an official observer. Just use your skills to observe….”
    “ Without getting involved…” I echoed the mantra they practically embroidered across my underwear.
    “ Oh you’ll be involved, whether you like it or not. These people may kill you. They’ll try.”
    “ Then you can bring back my molecules and put them in a jar for study.”
    “ I’m not sure what we’ll be able to do, and I don’t think Dr. Roberts is either. And when I say skills, I don’t mean as a scientist or technician, I mean as a survivor. Just survive. That’s all you have to do. We’ll take care of the analysis when you get back.”
    I shook his hand. He clapped me on the shoulder. He nodded to Eleanor with absolutely no meaning that I could discover, and then he left us alone.
    Dr. Roberts turned her back to me again and re-checked her instruments.
    “ Do I sense contention in the utopian lab?” I asked, sliding off my stool.
    “ What do you mean?” she answered with perfunctory timing, her back still turned to me for effect. Eleanor was cool, calm, disciplined. She was her own creation, but then so was I.
    “ Dissension and discord.”
    “ You’ll encounter dissension and discord in a few moments, Colonel Moore. Then maybe you’ll know the difference.”
    “ Can I count on you to bring me back, Eleanor?”
    “ I just hope you’re really up for this.”
    “ I feel swell. Give us a kiss.”
    “ If you’re not acting like an idiot, you’re raving like a fanatic. Like last time.”
    “ I brought back a profound experience last time, Eleanor, and you turned it into a white paper dissertation. I brought back tales of a saint, and you wrote about molecules and gravitational pull, and the theory of time in relation to spatial elements.”
    “ That’s right, Colonel Moore.” She faced me.
    “ I wrote about the dispassionate facts of the mission, as I was supposed to do. I analyzed its meaning and outcome. Did you want a comic book? Did you want a weekly action series?”
    “ What was its outcome? That was never explained to me. Did we do good? Did you find what you were looking for?”
    “ What do you think I’m looking for?”
    “ A way out.”
    “ It’s not that simple, Colonel….”
    “ Will you give up the tea party and just call me John? You are the most tight-assed….”
    “ I’m a scientist. I probe theory until it becomes fact, and if it doesn’t, I have to find out why. That’s all I am, John. There’s nothing mysterious or indomitable about it. There is no need for