when you can be just too hail-fellow-well-met, do you know what I mean?”
“ No actually, I don’t,” he said, bemused, and strolled across the lab to her.
“ I mean you could have taken my part in that mess. You could have stood up for me.”
“ I didn’t need to. You were doing fine. You’re an intelligent and capable woman, Eleanor. You don’t need me to protect you.”
“ How convenient for you, Cassius, that I don’t need you to protect me.”
“ Don’t be angry. You know as well as I do there is certainly more than one way to skin a cat in this place. Dr. L’Esperance bears some watching. We know that now. So, let’s pay close and careful attention to her. We may learn something. And it will be something we can use.”
His words were vague, and vaguely condescending, but they were also the truth, and Eleanor could acknowledge that above all. She was content to drop the matter with a mere shake of her head, and a light scratch of her polished fingernail on the back of his hand, which was clasped over the other against his groin. He leaned into her and kissed her experimentally on the cheek, which she received as one pacified.
A brief moment of nuzzling was all that was allowed before the low hum of the gauge that indicated magnetic equilibrium in the chamber took Eleanor’s attention away from him. Dr. Ford indulgently released her so she could make notes on her experiment. When he saw that she had paused, perhaps only to frown at her equipment, which he noticed she did often, he took the liberty of massaging her back.
“ I wondered…about what Dr. L’Esperance said….” Dr. Ford began.
He pulled his hands away immediately when he heard the click of the door. General English entered, eager, interested now in the lab he almost never visited, and very nearly jovial.
“ I’ve come to get you.” General English said, like a doting uncle at a Christmas party.
“ You can’t refuse to answer a few questions for the gallery.”
Dr. Roberts made a face into her tablet behind his back, then saved her notes and deleted her expression before turning to the General.
“ I thought it was agreed that would not be necessary this time, General.”
“ There’s been a change. I feel it would be an excellent gesture to the public, and very beneficial to the program, Dr. Roberts. You will join us, won’t you? Soon. Dr. Ford is speaking next, right? Are you on that, Ford?”
“ Yes, of course, General.” He had already removed his hands from Eleanor’s back and had them safely in his pockets.
“ I was just heading out, but I thought Burke was still giving his presentation.”
“ Marketing is just wrapping it up now, but we need something more substantial. We need nuts and bolts information for these people, Dr. Roberts, and by all means, a little...depth. You know what I mean. For that, I have Dr. L’Esperance on next. Let’s go.”
Dr. Roberts would not waste time disagreeing. He would stand there like a crosswalk monitor until she preceded him through the door and down the hall to the hated pressroom. She did not dare catch Dr. Ford’s eye.
Depth? He wants Dr. L’Esperance for depth?
“ I have to get one of my assistants, General,” Eleanor said, “Obviously the lab can’t be left without someone to monitor….”
“ Make it fast, Eleanor.” She knew he was becoming irritated because he used her first name.
She summoned another one of her subordinates to baby-sit the absence of Colonel Moore, and they proceeded to the pressroom.
Dr. L’Esperance stood before the podium to their left as they entered. They were immediately directed to the dais by Security. Eleanor sat behind the table, her hands nervously smoothing the white tablecloth before her, while a page put a name plaque in front of her so the press could read that she was Dr. Eleanor Roberts, Mission Director.
Dr. L’Esperance stood over her, framed in the glare of flashes and Fresnels, that created a halo effect
“ No actually, I don’t,” he said, bemused, and strolled across the lab to her.
“ I mean you could have taken my part in that mess. You could have stood up for me.”
“ I didn’t need to. You were doing fine. You’re an intelligent and capable woman, Eleanor. You don’t need me to protect you.”
“ How convenient for you, Cassius, that I don’t need you to protect me.”
“ Don’t be angry. You know as well as I do there is certainly more than one way to skin a cat in this place. Dr. L’Esperance bears some watching. We know that now. So, let’s pay close and careful attention to her. We may learn something. And it will be something we can use.”
His words were vague, and vaguely condescending, but they were also the truth, and Eleanor could acknowledge that above all. She was content to drop the matter with a mere shake of her head, and a light scratch of her polished fingernail on the back of his hand, which was clasped over the other against his groin. He leaned into her and kissed her experimentally on the cheek, which she received as one pacified.
A brief moment of nuzzling was all that was allowed before the low hum of the gauge that indicated magnetic equilibrium in the chamber took Eleanor’s attention away from him. Dr. Ford indulgently released her so she could make notes on her experiment. When he saw that she had paused, perhaps only to frown at her equipment, which he noticed she did often, he took the liberty of massaging her back.
“ I wondered…about what Dr. L’Esperance said….” Dr. Ford began.
He pulled his hands away immediately when he heard the click of the door. General English entered, eager, interested now in the lab he almost never visited, and very nearly jovial.
“ I’ve come to get you.” General English said, like a doting uncle at a Christmas party.
“ You can’t refuse to answer a few questions for the gallery.”
Dr. Roberts made a face into her tablet behind his back, then saved her notes and deleted her expression before turning to the General.
“ I thought it was agreed that would not be necessary this time, General.”
“ There’s been a change. I feel it would be an excellent gesture to the public, and very beneficial to the program, Dr. Roberts. You will join us, won’t you? Soon. Dr. Ford is speaking next, right? Are you on that, Ford?”
“ Yes, of course, General.” He had already removed his hands from Eleanor’s back and had them safely in his pockets.
“ I was just heading out, but I thought Burke was still giving his presentation.”
“ Marketing is just wrapping it up now, but we need something more substantial. We need nuts and bolts information for these people, Dr. Roberts, and by all means, a little...depth. You know what I mean. For that, I have Dr. L’Esperance on next. Let’s go.”
Dr. Roberts would not waste time disagreeing. He would stand there like a crosswalk monitor until she preceded him through the door and down the hall to the hated pressroom. She did not dare catch Dr. Ford’s eye.
Depth? He wants Dr. L’Esperance for depth?
“ I have to get one of my assistants, General,” Eleanor said, “Obviously the lab can’t be left without someone to monitor….”
“ Make it fast, Eleanor.” She knew he was becoming irritated because he used her first name.
She summoned another one of her subordinates to baby-sit the absence of Colonel Moore, and they proceeded to the pressroom.
Dr. L’Esperance stood before the podium to their left as they entered. They were immediately directed to the dais by Security. Eleanor sat behind the table, her hands nervously smoothing the white tablecloth before her, while a page put a name plaque in front of her so the press could read that she was Dr. Eleanor Roberts, Mission Director.
Dr. L’Esperance stood over her, framed in the glare of flashes and Fresnels, that created a halo effect
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