“Doctor! Doctor Lulamoon!”
“Yes, Mister Riggs-Duffy? What can I do for the Security Manager today?” Trixie sighed, ‘Trixie just wants to go home and relax, maybe have some peanut butter crackers, is that really so much to ask?’
“You can start by explaining why six of my data security personnel have been transferred over to your project!”
Trixie blinked in confusion, “What are you talking about? I haven’t requested any transfers.”
“I have the orders right here,” the man snapped as he held up his PDA, “Straight from Director Coalson’s desk!”
“Let me see that,” Trixie frowned as she scrolled down the computer screen, “This all seems correct … but why would the Director reassign data security to the PWD project? And why was I not told about this?”
Riggs-Duffy’s response was cut off as Trixie’s comlink headset began to beep and a small icon flashed in her eyepiece, “Wait a minute the Director is calling me now … Yes, Director? … Right away, Director. Coalson wants to talk to me, Clyde, maybe I can find out what is going on.”
“Watch yourself, Trixie, these transfers aren’t the only hinky orders to cross my desk this week.”
“Thank you, but I can look after myself,” she replied, ‘Damn it, Trixie was really looking forward to those peanut butter crackers.’
“I’ve assigned your project additional staff to get the PWD back on schedule,” Coalson said without preamble as Trixie walked in, “And to help with the investigation that the Home Office wants done.”
“I warned you that using the PWD to study these aberrant readings would significantly impact project completion,” Trixie scowled at him, “And how exactly are these additional people supposed to get us back on schedule? They’re data security not researchers or programmers or analysts!”
“They can still check readouts and do data entry!” Coalson snapped back, “And you will not take that tone with me, Doctor!” the Director took a deep breath and continued in a gentler tone, “Look, it’s clear that you’re overstressed, Doctor, so it’s probably a good thing that the Home Office wants you to step back from the PWD and focus on studying these aberrant espers.”
For a moment, all Trixie could do was stare at him, “You’re pulling me off the PWD project?” she finally managed to get out in a stunned voice.
“You’re not being pulled from the project, the Home Office is just having you take on a more supervisory position, your assistant can handle the day-to-day affairs,” Coalson gave her a small smile, “You’ll still get full credit when the PWD comes online, and you’ll get to do some research in the meantime. Now, here is all the information we’ve acquired on these aberrations,” he added, holding out a OSD, “Go home and get some sleep and you can start fresh on this in the morning.”
Trixie stared blankly into space as the door closed behind her, if it hadn’t been for her car’s autodrive system, she probably wouldn’t have made it back to her apartment, ‘They’re taking Trixie off the project … years of Trixie’s life spent on R&D so that bakebrain Coalson could divert our efforts and resources when we’re only months away from completion, and then they take Trixie off the project to help with his little obsession!’ her fist clenched around the OSD as nearby furniture began to shake and shift while the floor groaned underneath her, until the sound of a glass shattering snapped her out of her fury before her telekinetic outburst could do too much damage.
‘Control, control,’ Trixie admonished herself as she started in on some of the breathing exercises she had learned from a college roommate, ‘If this is what Trixie have been reduced to, then screaming and crying won’t help … even if it would make Trixie feel better ….’
Several hours (and three packages of peanut butter crackers) later found Trixie staring at her computer screen in the wee hours of the morning, ‘Trixie knows she has seen every reading the PWDs have recorded, so why doesn’t Trixie recognize this one?’ she frowned as she leaned back in her chair and rubbed at her burning eyes, ‘The location-time-date stamp has been removed as well … but Trixie has a few tricks up her sleeve …,’ she grinned to herself as she cracked her knuckles and reached for the keyboard.
“This doesn’t make any sense!” spat Trixie in frustration, “We lost all the data from storage fifteen when those criminals raided it, so how is it here … unless …,” she reached for her comlink and typed in a number, “Come on … come on ….”
*Do you have any idea what time it is Lulamoon?*
“I’m sorry, Clyde, but this is important, you mentioned some ‘hinky orders’ earlier, I need you to elaborate, please.”
*You woke me up at three in the morning to pester me about that?*
“Clyde … please.”
*Fine … I got a requisition for housing and armory access for eight people … Alpha-class access for an indeterminate period.*
“What?” blinked Trixie, “But we already have a team of troubleshooters assigned to the Seattle office, why would we need two more?”
*I don’t know, and as the Head of Security, I should!* Clyde gave a long sigh, *That isn’t the only thing that was off about these transfers, Trixie, they had no personnel files attached, no Payroll or HR information … it’s like they never worked for CMS a day in their lives before these orders got cut. Now are you going to tell me why you’re suddenly so interested?*
“I got pulled from the PWD project and made a ‘supervisor’,” she explained, her voice still edged with frustration, “And I was ordered to analyze the information we’ve been getting from the PWDs. Somebody tried to hide it by messing with the LTDS, but some of the data was stolen before we could record it or send it to the Home Office, so how was it in with all the other information I was given?”
*This isn’t good,* Clyde finally said after a long pause, *These two issues may not be related, but they still aren’t good.*
“No, no they’re not.”
*I can already tell that you’re planning something, Lulamoon … just, watch your back.*
“I will, Riggs-Duffy, you make sure to watch yours as well,” Trixie ended the call and typed in another number, ‘It’s eleven-thirty in Canterbury, time for Trixie to call an old friend ….’