He raised his eyebrows. “Are you saying we need her?”
The other scientists exchanged looks, considered the idea, and finally looked at each other again for approval. Somehow, they all stared at Gemma when they were ready. The scientist folded her arms across her chest and gave Marcus a stern look.
“We’re saying we need her,” she told him as the White Room dissolved around them.
She gestured at the lab. “We’ll run the last couple of theories you came up with but I think we all know how that’s gonna end, and none of us are looking forward to it. It will give us the data she’ll need, though.”
“You’re assuming she’ll know what the fuck she’s looking at.” The words were out before Marcus could stop them, and their faces registered surprise.
“I thought you said all this was her idea,” Phillip challenged, and his boss blushed.
“I did, and it is. I’m sorry. I was only…uh…”
“Speaking out of turn,” Cynthia finished for him. “I’ll call her and tell her she’s needed. That way, you can get your theories tested and out of the way before she gets here—unless you want her to walk into the middle of an explosion?”
She stood expectantly and stared at him with one eyebrow raised. His blush deepened and he signaled for the others to return to their consoles. “Come on, people. Let’s go explode ourselves. Again.”
He sighed. “Before the Witch gets here.”
The team scrambled to their seats, their faces set and determined. Once they’d settled, Cynthia stepped into her office. It wouldn’t save her when the lab blew again, but at least she wouldn’t see it coming.
Not knowing how long she had, she picked up the virtual communications line and tapped in the number they’d been given. “Yes, it’s Cynthia from the Planet Transformation Team. May I speak to Burt, please?”
It didn’t take long for their boss to come online, and it took even less time for her to explain the problem to him.
“And you think she’s the only one who can find the solution?” BURT asked, and she nodded.
“They’ve tried everything else, sir. The only expert who hasn’t had a look at the problem is Stephanie.”
The next explosion interrupted their conversation and she came to in the White Room, their communications still open.
“That was most unpleasant,” he observed. “Did they learn anything from it?”
Cynthia looked at Marcus and realized their boss had taken the conversation hands-free. It was almost funny to watch as the scientist pulled himself together and wiped the stunned surprise from his face to answer the question.
“Well, we learned that the farther into the system the magic brings the radiation, the worse the explosion is—”
“And the less it hurts,” Trey added. “I barely felt a thing that time.”
“That time?” BURT repeated slowly. “How many times have you exploded, exactly?”
“Only today, or in the last week?”
He responded with a very human facsimile of a groan. “Do you mean this has happened on a daily basis for a week?”
The scientists exchanged glances and Cynthia nudged Marcus with her toe. The team had materialized on their backsides on the White Room floor. Her boss looked at her and uttered a very loud sigh.
“It’s happened multiple times a day since the day we began,” he admitted and waited.
“I…see…” BURT didn’t sound like he saw, but his next words showed her that he did. “You should have called for her sooner. I’ll ask her to step in today.”
“Th…thank you,” Marcus stuttered. “We’re sorry for the delay. We merely wanted to make sure we’d covered every possible scenario.”
“You’ve done exactly the right thing,” he assured him. “I merely wish you’d checked in sooner. Do you have any more tests planned for the day?”
“Two?” Marcus looked at the team.
Trey held up several fingers.
“Three?”
The man nodded.
“Three,” Marcus confirmed. “We have three more theories to confirm.”
“To confirm what?” BURT asked.
“That they don’t work,” Gemma explained and laughed as she spoke.
“You plan to blow yourselves up another three times?” he asked, and they all nodded and grinned like idiots.
“And me,” Cynthia added sourly. “Can you ask Stephanie to come soon?”
“I will have her arrive as soon as she is free—which means today and hopefully in the next thirty minutes.”
“That should be plenty of time,” Marcus reassured him and looked at his colleagues.
“Yup,” Trey added. “We’re fairly sure we can explode ourselves another three times before she gets here.”
“Or you could take a break so she can examine your theories first,” BURT suggested, only to be met by stubborn looks.
“We’ll be all right, sir, and it’s better we eliminate all possibilities,” Gemma told him as she struggled to her feet.
“What she said,” Nathan added and followed her example.
Around them, the other scientists staggered upright and some gave each other tired high-fives as they prepared to return to the lab.
Cynthia sighed. “Thank you, Mr. Burt. I look forward to Stephanie getting here.”
From the look on her face, the Witch’s arrival couldn’t come soon enough, and BURT made a note to hurry.
Stephanie was busier than he anticipated, and it took her more than an hour to arrive, rather than the half an hour he had predicted.
“Thank God you’re here!” Marcus exclaimed as she stalked into the room. He stood and gestured to his seat. “You can use my terminal.”
“I’m sorry I took so long,” she replied, crossed to where he stood, and slid into the seat. “We were in the middle of loading the ship and I was needed.”
Marcus ran a hand through his hair. “That’s okay. We wouldn’t have called you at all but we’ve hit something of a snag…”
He let the words trail off as she leaned over the screen and he watched her carefully as she studied what they’d tried to do. It was hard to stand still as her frown grew deeper.
“So,” she said when he thought he couldn’t stand it any longer, “what exactly seems to be the problem?”
With an exasperated sigh, he stooped over the screen. “It’s here,” he told her and jabbed the relevant part of the diagram. His finger came down again, “And here, and here, and here. Do you see?”
Stephanie looked dutifully at the places he’d indicated and finally shook her head. “No.”
“Oh, for Pity’s sake!” he exclaimed, and his finger came down with more vigor than caution. “This! This is the problem. The energy spins up fine and it makes it to the end of the tendrils, but then… then it…it gets stuck… See? Here?”
Have him take you through it one step at a time, the Morgana ordered and caught her by surprise. I almost understand the patterns.
Almost? she asked. I only kinda get them and I’m the one who designed this.