“Session Three ends at eleven hundred hours, fifty-seven minutes. This record includes one blackboard photograph.”
“Mobile Construction Unit Five to facility,” the radio in the outer office suddenly squawked, “we are three minutes away, and decided to accept that offer of lunch.”
Corporal Do-forva hopped up to respond.
“Now Heather has to go to work, believe it or not,” the general announced with a grin.
Everyone laughed and headed for the dining room, toward the aromas that had been making their mouths water for the last half hour.
Heather returned the general’s grin. “The construction guys are fun, and I can stop to dance or do other things any time I want.”
“How about a Doctoral Entrance Exam?” he asked, still smiling. “I had Doctor Bo-kamla bring one.”
Susan, listening to the exchange, blushed at one of the first uses of her new title. “But . . . that test requires a month or more of study . . .”
“Do you really think so,” the general asked with raised eyebrows, “after seeing Heather lead that meeting?”
“Um . . . maybe not . . .” the psychologist replied, looking at the seven-year-old who appeared quite willing to take a Doctoral Entrance Exam cold.
“People without program clearance entering the building!” Corporal
NEBADOR Book Nine: A Cry for Help 69
Do-forva yelled before heading downstairs.
In the dining room, the historian was frustrated by not being able to continue discussing the morning’s topic.
“Even if the construction guys weren’t here,” Colonel Ba-kerga explained,
“we need to get any serious discussions onto the taped record.”
“In academia, ideas evolve at the water cooler, on the phone, in notes stuck in each other’s mailboxes, even on the tennis court . . .”
“If we were just working with ideas,” Major Ma-soran said, “that might be possible. But in this program, we’re playing with fire.”
The historian frowned, but a moment later he nodded agreement.
Heather and the four craftsmen ate quickly while they conferred, then left the dining room.
After General Bo-seklin finished a leisurely lunch, he discovered his desk, chair, and filing cabinet in the middle of the big room. Stepping to his office door, he beheld the craftsmen laying down drop cloths, removing the old fluorescent lights, chipping at rough spots on the walls, and sanding. Heather received a light fixture after it was removed by the electrician on a ladder.
She spotted the general. “I decided today would be fine for that test, since tomorrow will be a prep day. These guys know what they’re doing, and are gonna go room by room.”
“I’ll see if I can tear Doctor Bo-kamla away from Maria’s apple pie.”
Heather laughed and carried the old fixture to the pile by the stairs.
“This is an informal test,” Susan began after they settled into folding metal chairs in the conference room, “and will not be recorded anywhere, as that would mean putting your name into several databases, from where it would get into countless more.”
“Not okay,” Heather said flatly.
“That’s what I understand. So I will just be verbally giving General Bo-seklin the results, and he will attest to your . . . um . . . educational equivalency . . . for anyone who needs to know, but there will be no other record or evidence.”
NEBADOR Book Nine: A Cry for Help 70
“That sounds like the best we can do.”
“This test has four parts, each of which has a one-hour time limit.”
Heather received the first test booklet, scratch paper and pencil, and went to work.
Less than half an hour later, a knock was heard. “I need to ask Heather a question,” came the voice of one of the craftsmen.
Susan opened the door a crack. “She’s taking a test.”
“I’m in charge of the remodeling,” Heather asserted from the table, “so I’ll have to multi-task a little.”
The psychologist thought about it. “You can speak to her briefly in my presence, but you cannot show her any written materials.”
The craftsman quickly put the papers he was carrying behind his back.
“Um . . . we’re about to put up the new lights, and the installation diagram says they point down, but I remember you saying something about that.”
“Yeah, we’re using them as indirect lighting, to bounce off the ceiling, so they point up.”
“Thanks,” he said, and wandered away, looking thoughtfully at the diagram.
When Heather took a stretch break between tests, she noticed that the general’s office had been put back together. People were wandering by to admire the dusty green walls and blue trim, and the craftsmen were busy moving the outer office furniture.
At her next break, the office was done and the dining room tables were in the big room where Heather knew they would remain for several days.
Doctor Bo-kamla handed the general a hand-written sheet of paper without any names or signatures. “It would be hard to believe these scores if I hadn’t proctored the test myself.”
“I don’t plan to ever use the actual scores. These are all passing, I presume
. . .”
“Oh, sorry. Normally, it’s up to the college. Most draw the line at six hundred, a few elite schools at seven hundred.”
The general looked over the four numbers, all in the upper seven-hundreds. “So . . . a person might get scores like this if they already had
NEBADOR Book Nine: A Cry for Help 71
a doctoral degree?”
The psychologist nodded slowly.
The general took several slow breaths to help him adsorb the evidence in his hands, then sighed. “How do you like being on the team?”
“I feel like a fish out of water.”
“We all do, believe me, Doctor Bo-kamla. We all do.”
By dinner time, the senior officers had gone home. The four craftsmen finished the dining room walls, then moved the old kitchen equipment to that end of the room. Heather made sure it was all arranged so Maria could function for two days while the kitchen itself was refinished.
When the workers were finally gone, Heather plopped onto a couch. “Why do I feel exhausted?”
Lisa chuckled as she wandered over from the office. “You had a big day.”
“That test was a very strange experience. Many times I was about to pick one answer, then had to remind myself what year this is.”
“So . . . knowledge is relative to the time period?”
“In some ways, yes. The basic math and science stays the same, but stuff on the edge of knowledge, like how the universe formed and how genetics works — that stuff is changing rapidly. I happen to know that we share most of our D.N.A. base pair sequences with all other animals, even insects. No one would believe that in 3662.”
“What’s
D.N.A.?”
“Deoxyribonucleic acid, the molecule that encodes genetic information.”
“Oh.”
“And
of course the social sciences swing every which way over time, and then swing back again! But Sam said I passed, so I’m happy.”
“This was supposed to be your unwinding time. Wanna get out of here?”
“Yeah! I have a vision of the future, about half an hour from now, and in my vision I see a banana split.”
“I know just the place!”