Read Online Evacuation (The Seamus Chronicles Book 2) by K. D. McAdams - Free Book Online Page A
Authors: K. D. McAdams
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what I expect to be physically present, but in my gut it feels right.
“Keep us posted, please?” Mom’s note is briefer this time. Now her brow is furrowed and she is visibly suppressing distress. “The Nuke team is absent. With Paddrick putting all his efforts into flying, I will be asking Liam to run with this task.”
“Does this mean they lose commissary privileges?” Jane asks, clearly wondering if there will be a double standard for our family.
“If they do not have a good excuse, then yes. Next time anyone sees either Liam or Paddrick please let them know that I would like to speak with them both.” She looks more confused than scared. Mom knows how Dad likes routine; even if Liam wasn’t here, Dad should have been.
“Should we go and look for them?” William is not sure of his role in this issue.
“I appreciate the offer, William. Not yet though. Let’s assume that they are hunting or took longer than expected getting something we really need.” Mom is half-heartedly convincing herself that Dad and Liam are screw-ups. Finally she says, “Let’s get to work everyone.” Her laptop is closed and the conversation is done.
Chapter 9
The fight broke out as soon as I walked through the door of the lab.
“You need to get on board!” Cassandra screams right in my face.
“You need to open your mind and look beyond your own ideas,” I reply, my voice low and calm. Dad taught me this trick for dealing with irate people.
“As if!” She is still animated and speaking loudly. “Seamus the genius can’t lower himself to work on an idea from someone else. When will you realize that you have NOTHING?!”
“I guess that’s what you will never understand about original thought. I have something and it is going to blow your socks off,” I reply. My confidence is real, even though my idea is not.
“Then let’s hear it,” she says, issuing the ultimate challenge.
“I’ll make a deal with you.” I have no choice but to stall. “If you spend the next 24 hours identifying the three closest, best planets capable of sustaining life, I will come up with a presentation of my idea. If I cannot convince you by tomorrow at lunchtime, I will go all-in on your solar sail.”
“No.” Her arms are crossed and she is defiant in her presumed victory. “Convince me now.”
“You’ve had a while to think about this. I’ve been working on it for a couple days. Right now the idea is in pieces in my head. I need 24 hours to pull them together in the right order. Logic jumps and concepts that seem clear to me sometimes seem contradictory to other people. Remember how I struggled to share the details of my reactor?” This is true but I don’t know what the pieces add up to.
“Seamus, how many years did it take you to get the reactor out of your head and into reality?” Jane is speaking to me with pleading eyes. “We don’t have time to grind this out. We have to get moving today.”
Her point is not lost on me. From the first night, I envisioned my reactor to the day we got electricity from it was more than eight years. This concept is bigger and riskier but we have weeks—or if we are lucky, months—to get it done.
“Twenty-four hours is all I ask,” I say. Humble pleading feels like my only path to victory. “And who knows? Maybe if you shift your focus for a day, you’ll be able to solve some of the things you’ve been stuck on.”
Jane places her hand on Cassandra’s shoulder before speaking. “Fine. Twenty-four hours it is. We will have a sortable list of planets; you have a presentation on how you are going to get us from here to there better than a solar sail.”
I won, but I’m screwed. As an intellectual person, I am surprised that I have so much trust in my instincts. I like to think that I work well under pressure, but I have no idea. Wanting to wrap up a dynamic field test before Dad makes me go to Grandma’s for Thanksgiving used to feel like pressure. Now I
“Keep us posted, please?” Mom’s note is briefer this time. Now her brow is furrowed and she is visibly suppressing distress. “The Nuke team is absent. With Paddrick putting all his efforts into flying, I will be asking Liam to run with this task.”
“Does this mean they lose commissary privileges?” Jane asks, clearly wondering if there will be a double standard for our family.
“If they do not have a good excuse, then yes. Next time anyone sees either Liam or Paddrick please let them know that I would like to speak with them both.” She looks more confused than scared. Mom knows how Dad likes routine; even if Liam wasn’t here, Dad should have been.
“Should we go and look for them?” William is not sure of his role in this issue.
“I appreciate the offer, William. Not yet though. Let’s assume that they are hunting or took longer than expected getting something we really need.” Mom is half-heartedly convincing herself that Dad and Liam are screw-ups. Finally she says, “Let’s get to work everyone.” Her laptop is closed and the conversation is done.
Chapter 9
The fight broke out as soon as I walked through the door of the lab.
“You need to get on board!” Cassandra screams right in my face.
“You need to open your mind and look beyond your own ideas,” I reply, my voice low and calm. Dad taught me this trick for dealing with irate people.
“As if!” She is still animated and speaking loudly. “Seamus the genius can’t lower himself to work on an idea from someone else. When will you realize that you have NOTHING?!”
“I guess that’s what you will never understand about original thought. I have something and it is going to blow your socks off,” I reply. My confidence is real, even though my idea is not.
“Then let’s hear it,” she says, issuing the ultimate challenge.
“I’ll make a deal with you.” I have no choice but to stall. “If you spend the next 24 hours identifying the three closest, best planets capable of sustaining life, I will come up with a presentation of my idea. If I cannot convince you by tomorrow at lunchtime, I will go all-in on your solar sail.”
“No.” Her arms are crossed and she is defiant in her presumed victory. “Convince me now.”
“You’ve had a while to think about this. I’ve been working on it for a couple days. Right now the idea is in pieces in my head. I need 24 hours to pull them together in the right order. Logic jumps and concepts that seem clear to me sometimes seem contradictory to other people. Remember how I struggled to share the details of my reactor?” This is true but I don’t know what the pieces add up to.
“Seamus, how many years did it take you to get the reactor out of your head and into reality?” Jane is speaking to me with pleading eyes. “We don’t have time to grind this out. We have to get moving today.”
Her point is not lost on me. From the first night, I envisioned my reactor to the day we got electricity from it was more than eight years. This concept is bigger and riskier but we have weeks—or if we are lucky, months—to get it done.
“Twenty-four hours is all I ask,” I say. Humble pleading feels like my only path to victory. “And who knows? Maybe if you shift your focus for a day, you’ll be able to solve some of the things you’ve been stuck on.”
Jane places her hand on Cassandra’s shoulder before speaking. “Fine. Twenty-four hours it is. We will have a sortable list of planets; you have a presentation on how you are going to get us from here to there better than a solar sail.”
I won, but I’m screwed. As an intellectual person, I am surprised that I have so much trust in my instincts. I like to think that I work well under pressure, but I have no idea. Wanting to wrap up a dynamic field test before Dad makes me go to Grandma’s for Thanksgiving used to feel like pressure. Now I
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