There Must Be A Mistake Ch. 18

"William Zabo; he is absolutely brilliant."

"Is he listed on your cell?"

"Yes he is. You two get going, take security with you. We will call you when we get to Anderson."

Delicious and Gordon kissed me goodbye and walked out of the room. They had work to do, and the ship could not be finished without them. The room was an oasis with them, and a desert as soon as they left. Even with Jennifer constantly at my side, I felt lonely.

I said a silent prayer. "Please God let me live long enough to see it fly."

*************

"Zabo residence, this is Jemma."

"Hello Jemma, this is Jennifer Luck, I am Doctor Even Luck's wife."

"Hello Jennifer, how is everything?"

"If your husband is at home I would like to speak to him on a rather urgent matter. If not I'd like to leave him a message."

"William is not at home now, but I'll be happy to pass along your message?"

"Would you please tell him that Even has cancer? He would like to know if William could become the chief administrator, at our headquarters in Temple Texas, until we can get a permanent replacement for him. Your husband was the only person Even could think of who could take over for him."

"I am sorry to hear about your husband's illness. I will call William and get this message to him immediately."

"Thank you very much Jemma, we both appreciate your help."

***************

William was on the phone with me five minutes later.

"When did all this happen Even? You never mentioned you weren't feeling well."

"Hello to you too William. I thought it was appendicitis, because I had a slight swelling in my abdomen. I went to the doctor to have it checked out. I believe he knew immediately what it was. He ran a battery of tests which confirmed his suspicions. He sent me to Austin, where they put me through the ringer, to come up with a firm diagnosis and a plan of action.

They are sending me to MD Anderson Hospital in Houston, tomorrow morning. It is supposed to be the finest hospital in the world for Pancreatic Cancer Care. That's why I asked Jennifer to call for your help. I could be out of action for as much as a year.

We won't need you for that long, but until Rod can do a search to find someone to take over my administrative duties, I wanted to ask if you could fill in for me until that's taken care of. You have the finest mind of any man I have ever met. I know you could do the job easily. My only question is; do you have the time to do it."

"Jemma didn't tell me it was Pancreatic Cancer. How bad is it?"

"It's early stage one and the doctors are very optimistic it can be cured."

"That is great news. Okay, I'll move my family down there for a year and take over your administrative duties. It means I can harass Stephano and find out where my money is going."

"You are going to laugh when you see Stephano's desk. Even with all his help, he is elbow deep in paperwork. I have no idea how he knows what's going on, but he's doing a phenomenal job.

Every time the auditors come to check our financial statements, they are perfect. He keeps track of every penny that comes in and goes out."

"Patrick is going to have quite a few playmates. We have several five-year-olds a couple of six-year-old's, and a four-year-old for him to play with.

Of course they are all watched over by agents with automatic weapons, but that's normal for our children."

"You were always the master of the understatement Even. Get yourself up to that hospital, and get your health taken care of. Have your lawyer friend find us a home. We will be down within two weeks."

"William, you have always been a great friend. Now you are a godsend. I can't thank you enough for taking over for me. I know the administrative side of building my spacecraft is in great hands. Thank you so much."

"Even, you get well, and don't think about anything else. I'll keep the ship on course until you get back."

***************

83. Cracked Up

Babcock & Wilcox - Charleston, North Carolina. Nuclear Power Generation Division Headquarters

"You call her."

"Do you think I'm out of my fucking mind Fred? You call her. You are the division manager; it's your responsibility to tell her what happened."

"She's going to kill someone, and I prefer it be you. My wife is expecting our third child, and I'd really like to be around to see it grow up."

"That's not a fair argument. Just because Susie and I decided to keep the population of the planet down to a manageable size does not mean I should let that bitch kill me, because you got Angela pregnant."

"How are we supposed to explain to that bitch we cracked something that cannot be cracked? That containment vessel could be dropped from ten times that height onto a concrete floor and it would bounce before it cracked. How the hell did we crack it? We are supposed to deliver that reactor in 12 months. Would you like to explain to me how we are going to meet that deadline without a containment vessel?"

"There had to be something wrong with the mixture of the silicon carbide and the beryllium oxide. We must've screwed up the mixture. We have to find out what we did. If we did it right, we have backtrack everything from the day the men put it into the mixers, to the where the bags were stored, to the suppliers and where they got their supplies from.

In the meantime, we have to start all over again from the beginning. I'll take a piece of the vessel with me to Texas, after I rewrite my will."

"I knew you were standup guy Wes. I'll write up your eulogy, and you can give it your stamp of approval, before you leave."

"Just make sure my health and life insurance are paid up to date, through the company. I'll call Mrs. Thyme, and tell her I'm coming to see her."

"It's been great working with you Wes."

"You're a prick for making me do this Fred."

"Yes, but if you live, it's a step towards upper management."

"You've dealt with her. If I live I'm going to come back with no legs. When I told her she could save $5 million by using the round plutonium rods instead of the octagonal shape rods, she almost emasculated me with her fingernails.

When I asked her why plutonium, instead of uranium, I thought she was going to take my ass hole out through my throat. That bitch, excuse me, that customer is going to make a last-minute change on that vessel. She's going to change it from nuclear fission to nuclear fusion. I'd bet my last penny on it."

"We would've heard about it already. It would have been all over the news. Nuclear fusion for domestic use would solve all the world's power problems. You think that little girl is going to do it on that spaceship. I don't think you going to have to worry about your last penny."

"$1000 says you're wrong."

"$1000 and I'll take you out to dinner if you're right."

"As long as it's a place with table cloths and real silverware, and not the usual Jack-in-the-Box, I accept."

"I don't always take you to Jack-in-the-Box. I take you to Arby's sometime."

"Yes you do; on those really special days when we have to work instead of being home with our families. Thanksgiving, Christmas, and New Year's Day, because we are running behind on an important project. Sometimes you even splurge for a soda."

"That's why they pay me more than they pay you."

"Fred, if you weren't my friend you'd be on the floor now."

"I'll have Sandi get your airline tickets to Houston, coach naturally. I'll even splurge for a car with an air conditioner."

"Tires and an engine would be good also."

"Wes, you're pushing me too far."

***************

"Hello Doctor and Mrs. Luck, my name is Doctor Elizabeth Nu. I am your oncologist. Mrs. Luck if you have a pen and paper, I would suggest you start writing. Doctor Luck, I am your team leader. There are six doctors on our team. There will be no name tests for quite a while, because we have more important things to discuss and to think about.

We are a patient oriented hospital. My team and I will devote every effort to cure you. However, I am going to give you the worst-case scenario first.

You can live without both arms and both legs. You can live without a stomach, because we can fake one. You can live without a spleen, gallbladder, appendix, part of your upper and lower intestine, and part of your bladder. You can live without most of your liver. You can live with one kidney, and if you are one of the lucky ones, you can get a new heart.

However, the pancreas is a totally different organ. When it gets sick it affects everything from the stomach down. Even though we know a lot about it, we don't know everything. We don't know why it does what it does to the human body. However, at this hospital we have made giant leaps in the care and treatment of Pancreatic Cancer.

We have seen the results of all your tests. We have discussed them in a forum and come up with a plan of action for you. It is not going to be easy on your body. You are going to get sick and then sicker, from the beginning of our treatment continuing for approximately six weeks. Then you will get better for a time why your body heals.

We know exactly where the tumor is and we are going to attack it with radiation and chemotherapy in an attempt to shrink it to a more manageable size. Your tumor is small, and the smaller we can get it, the better the chance your operation will be successful.

If the tumor refuses to shrink, or stays in the area it's in, the operation is going to be very extensive. You are going to have a long healing time in the hospital, and then in a recovery facility.

"Doctor Nu, I am a scientist. I am building a spacecraft. I know how difficult things can be. I don't like being left in the dark. Telling me the operation is going to be very extensive and difficult doesn't tell me anything. I can tell you the exact amount of millimeters and the tensile strength of each area of my craft. I need to know exactly what is going to happen to me so I can prepare my mind, and my body for what's coming. I want to get back to what's important to me, my family, and my work."

"Doctor Luck, when the staff heard you were coming to us the reaction was like we were getting a rock star. Everyone knows what you're doing, and most are rooting for you. The rest think you're crazy."

"What side of the fence do you fall on Doctor?"

"I fall on the scientific side. I don't believe gravity can be reversed."

"Doctor Nu, we need a doctor/surgeon to go with us to the stars. People get sick on this planet and they will get sick and hurt on another planet. If I can prove to you that gravity can be reversed, would you care to come along? You don't have to do it, but I will still prove to you it can and has been done. A 16-year-old girl, my daughter, Delicious, did it using a pencil, paper, and a high school computer. In two years or so, those engines will push us away from this planet, pull us towards the moon, Mars, and Jupiter, and with the help of the two other engines she designed; we will move beyond the speed of light, and leave our solar system. I know it sounds like science fiction, but we will be beaming back pictures as we break many of the rules science lives by today."

"Your argument sounds very convincing Doctor; and I will take it under advisement. Now to answer your question about your upcoming operation; if the radiation and chemotherapy do not work; here is how your operation will go."

"Mrs. Luck you may want to sit down for this."

"Thanks for the warning Doctor, it sounds like this is going to be terrifying."

"The operation is called, 'A Pancreaticduodectomy.' It involves removing part of the stomach, the duodenum, the effected portion of the pancreas, the bile ducts, the lymph nodes, and the gallbladder. You will be eating through a tube in your small intestine for three weeks after the operation. This will allow your stomach and intestine below your duodenum to heal properly. After that you will be on a strict diet for six months to help you gain weight, but not by eating greasy, or heavy foods. I hope you like cottage cheese Doctor, because you're going to be eating a lot of it. Once your insides have healed, you will be back here for testing. Depending on what we see, we will start radiation and chemotherapy again, just chemotherapy, or nothing at all. You may think 'nothing at all' is good. Sometimes it's the worst thing we can tell you. It would mean that the cancer has done one of two things. It is gone, or spread to a point where we can't help you any longer. At that point, it's best for everyone concerned to help you manage the pain you will be in.

We have found in those cases that putting a patient through chemotherapy and radiation just makes the patients sicker than they already are. They gain no benefit from the treatment, and they lose too much weight. It's not fair to the patient, and it gives the patient's family false hope. Does that tell you everything you wanted to know Doctor?"

"Yes Doctor Nu it does. When can I start fighting this cancer? The faster the fight starts, the quicker it will be over, and I can go back to work."

"Is he always this inpatient Mrs. Luck?"

"No Doctor, he's not usually this calm. Can I stay in the same room with him?"

"We will have housekeeping set up a bed for you."

"Thank you Doctor."

Jen took my hand and kissed me. She looked me in the eye and said, "So help me God, Even Luck, if you die on me I'll come after you and kill you."

"I love you too Jennifer." She crawled into bed with me, lay by my side, and began to cry.

"I wish I had ice cubes."

"I'll get you some."

"What good would that do? I won't be able to slide them down your blouse."

"Even, you are incorrigible."

"If you think I'm incorrigible now, wait until after they give me my medication tonight."

"We can't do that here Even; this is a hospital."

"How much would you like to bet we will do it in a hospital, and maybe more than once?"

"Even if we get caught I'll be mortified."

"Then let's not get caught."

"I think you're trying to catch up for all those years you weren't having sex."

"Are you complaining Mrs. Luck?"

"Absolutely not Doctor Luck, every time I see that thing of yours it's pointing at me."

"It knows where home is."

"And home knows where it is sir. I believe it's time for you to take a nap. You have had a long drive, and a restless night. Regardless of your bravado, you are as frightened as I am. Go to sleep my love, I will be right here when you wake up."

"You are the only reason I have made it this far Jen. You are my strength, and my reason for living. I love you. You've made me happier than I thought I would ever be."

"I make you happier than your spacecraft?"

ZZZZZZZZZZZZ nnnn ZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZ nnnnnn

"Don't give me that bullshit Mister! I know you're still awake. At least I'm a close second."

"No Jen, you are first in my heart, and in my head. My spaceship does not keep me warm at night. It did not give me three wonderful children. I could do without my spaceship, but I could not be happy without you."

"You are such a terrible liar Even. Go to sleep, I Love You."

***************

"Thank you for seeing me so quickly Mrs. Thyme. I'm sorry I had to bother you at home, on a Saturday, but what we have to talk about is something of great importance."

"Don't play with those locks, Newt. We both know you can open them. Sit down with us, and you can listen to what Mister Purcell has to say."

"Thank you mommy."

"So Mister Purcell, how can I help you?"

Wes Purcell opened his large satchel and pulled out what look like a broken piece of concrete.

"What is that Mister Purcell?"

"That Mrs. Thyme is part of your containment vessel. We are at a complete loss to figure out how a ceramic compound that should be able to fall from a height of 200 feet onto a concrete floor, and bounce, cracked when it fell off its hinges. Before we start over again, checking everything, from the from how our men calculated the amount of mixture to put into the cauldron, back through the entire supply chain, we need to know what happened to this, and exactly how long we have to deliver the finished product."

Delicious screamed, "Why would I give you idiots a second chance at making the same mistake. I should take this piece and break your open your head. If my son wasn't here, I would have taken your head off your shoulders and be drinking your blood. What did you assholes at Babcock do?"

"Newton put that down."

"That's the point Mrs. Thyme. Everything was put together according to the recipe. It should be perfect. It came out of the Kiln exactly as it was supposed to. The measurements were right on the money. There wasn't a flaw anywhere. The x-rays were wonderful. There were no pores or air gaps in the entire vessel. We had enough stock on hand to build a second unit if we had to, but we didn't need it. It was perfect. We are going to do it again, but not with the stock we have on hand. We are going to a different supplier, and making sure he gets his supplies from a different source. There has to be a reason for this failure, we just don't know why."

Newton said, "I do."

"Newton, go to your room and play. Now is not the time to be funny."

"Mommy, I know why the rock is dusty."

"Okay baby, tell mommy why the rock is dusty."

"There was too much mercury in the water. It did not allow the two ceramic agents to bond to one another."

Wes looked at Newton. "What planet is that kid from?"

"This is my son Newton Luck Thyme. Could he possibly be right?"

"You're damn right he could be right. Mercury is an element that dissolves in water. We eat it every time we eat contaminated fish. It's in our water supply. We purify the water before we use it, but we don't sterilize it and take out the heavy elements. We've never had to do that before. Newton you're a genius."

"I know."

Delicious closed to her eyes. "Oh Newton not you too. I had enough of that sentence from Gordon."

"Mrs. Thyme, I'd like to go back to my original question. How much time do we have to make another containment vessel? Then I have a follow-up question."

"I'm going to tell you straight out Mister Purcell. My dad has Pancreatic Cancer. The quicker we can get the Beach Ball off the ground the better. 14 months would be fantastic. 16 months would be okay. 17 months and you lose your balls. 18 months and you lose your life. Do we understand each other?"

"Yes, I understand perfectly. Now for my follow-up question, and this will not leave this room. Are you going to change this reactor from a fission chamber to a fusion chamber? If you are I can save time by making the adjustments inside the chamber while we are building it, instead of you having to spend valuable time retrofitting it, when you get it."

"How did you know?"

"I watched your brother on television. He is an amazing young man."

"Gordon is the one who made this possible."

"Mommy that's easy."

"Whose kid is this again? Are there any more like him around?"

"He's my child. As of this moment I am not planning on duplicating him. I'm beginning to think I may not have any more children, because he's scaring me."

"That child would scare Beijing. I'm going back to Charleston to run some tests. If Newton is correct, we will start on a new containment vessel Monday morning. If he's not, I'll call you tomorrow afternoon, and we will have to come up with a different plan."

"Newton, are you correct about the Mercury?"

"Mommy, it can only be one of two things: Mercury or Bromine. I'll bet you my ice cream it's Mercury."

"It's Mercury Mister Purcell; he doesn't give up his ice cream to anyone."