CHAPTER 11... is live
The story continues
All previous chapters - CHAPTER 1 - CHAPTER 2 - CHAPTER 3 - CHAPTER 4 - CHAPTER 5 - CHAPTER 6 - Chapter 7 - CHAPTER 8 - CHAPTER 9 - CHAPTER 10
Previously on “The bomb in the shed…”; A failed test put Elizabeth’s research back to square one leaving her with questions about her boss Robert Fitzpatrick’s motivations, so she has another go at bringing Arthur on board to help her.
And here we go with CHAPTER 11…
Chapter 11
London - Present day
“Arthur, you have a visitor in reception.”
It was Winterbourne, looking irked at having to come and deliver the message. Maybe he’d tried to call. Arthur always had his phone with him but it was usually off or went ignored if not. He didn’t like the distraction.
“Ok, I’ll be there soon,” he replied. “I just have to finish this.”
He carried on tinkering.
Winterbourne said, “I wouldn’t keep her waiting if I were you.”
“Just a minute.”
“Don’t say I didn’t warn you,” replied Winterbourne as he walked away.
It took Arthur a good ten minutes to finish up what he was doing, you couldn’t just drop it all and leave when you were right in the middle of something. When he was done he made his way through the lab out towards reception.
Sensidium had started to feel much like any other lab Arthur had worked in, a home away from home, then home itself as he spent more and more time there. It had taken a good while to get to that point though. Arthur was more a cat person than a dog person by nature. Dogs rush into the centre of a room and go straight up to anyone in there to say hello. Cats are more careful. They like to sneak into the room unnoticed and observe from hidden corners, only revealing themselves when they’re comfortable and trust whoever is present. That’s how Arthur liked to operate in a new environment, like a cat.
But he’d been thrust into the middle of his new lab like a dog. There were no corners for him to hide in and it felt like people were constantly watching him and silently judging what he was doing. Maybe they were reporting back to Winterbourne or Jacob. Arthur had his own small team. Not people he’d chosen himself, members of Winterbourne’s team to get him up and running. They did a poor job of hiding their frustration at being forced to switch projects. It was all incredibly stressful and Arthur had thought he wouldn’t be able to stick with it. Elizabeth had told him to pull himself together, for Bella’s sake. She was right.
The mood in the lab had changed after a while, just like Elizabeth said it would. The novelty of Arthur’s arrival wore off and people were too busy to watch him anymore. And his team began to see the potential in the cold fusion tech. It had been a challenge to decide what to build at Sensidium, as Bella was staying where she was in the shed, safe and sound. Elizabeth had grudgingly helped with what she saw as a necessary evil, the price of getting their funding and working on Bella. They would run a simple small scale energy output test similar to the ones they ran in New Mexico. Enough to prove the principles without giving too much away at this stage.
As the team’s regard for Arthur grew they started coming to him with questions, first about the cold fusion project, then to help on the Sensidium clean energy project. One day he’d stumbled in on an impromptu meeting of their lab team in the kitchen and had got drawn into the conversation, he couldn’t help it. Before he knew it he was spending more and more time helping them, then Jacob had persuaded Arthur to help the Sensidium team out full time. It was hard to say no, they needed his help and he had so many ideas. Elizabeth really hadn’t been happy about it at all. It would hold up their work on Bella. They’d had a massive row and Arthur hadn’t seen her since.
Once through security and in reception Arthur spotted a rather tall and intimidating looking woman at the vending machine. She had to be Kinga, based on how Jacob had described her. She was swearing at the machine and giving it an occasional hard thump that filled the room with a metallic echo. The receptionist looked on with some concern but seemed too scared to say anything. Jacob had warned him about Kinga. Don’t talk about the shed and Bella for now, that’s our secret. Arthur wasn’t a big fan of keeping secrets, he wasn’t great at it. But he’d learned to live with it over the years. She probably won’t come to the lab, but if she does just keep her happy and try not to upset her.
Keeping her waiting for a quarter of an hour probably wasn’t a good start.
“Hello, Kinga? I’m Arthur.”
Kinga was leaning over and rooting around in the dispenser tray now, her arm right up in the machine. She looked up, clearly irritated. Whether this was because of Arthur’s lateness or the machine it was hard to tell. Maybe it was both.
But then her expression changed to one of concern. “My God, are you OK? You look like shit.”
It was true, he probably didn’t look great. He certainly didn’t feel great, he was exhausted. With Camilla away in America he was the master of his own schedule and that was only going to go one way… more work, less everything else. His team had said the same thing. Are you sure you ok? Maybe you should get some more rest? Are you eating? You should take a couple of days off.
“I’m ok, just busy, lots to do,” said Arthur in reply. His stock response.
“Hey, I love the work ethic,” replied Kinga standing, now with a hand full of snacks. “But you’re no good to us if you drop down dead. Eat something, for Christ’s sake.”
She threw him a Mars bar which he just about to managed to catch with a little bit of juggling.
“There’s someone I want you to meet,” said Kinga, striding off down the corridor. “An old friend of yours.”
Who could that be?
Arthur followed her into a meeting room.
“Hello, Arthur.”
It was Robert Fitzpatrick. Looking older, of course. Greyer, and rounder about the middle. But the same man. His being here didn’t fit. He belonged back in the US, along with all the painful memories of Arthur’s time there.
“What’s he doing here?” said Arthur.
“Same old Arthur,” replied Fitzpatrick, laughing good naturedly and slapping him on the back.
What was that all about? They’d barely spoken to each other in New Mexico. Elizabeth had asked Arthur to stay out of Fitzpatrick’s way. After the accident he’d tried to contact the man to find out what had happened to Elizabeth, but he didn’t return any of Arthur’s calls. Now he was acting like they were long lost friends.
Kinga said, “He’s helping us on the business side. We need to start thinking about how we position your pure fusion energy to the markets. I thought you could show him what you’re working on.”
That sounded like a terrible idea, but Arthur wasn’t about to try and argue with Kinga, so he took them both through security and into the lab. Fitzpatrick seemed totally at ease, introduced himself to everyone, chatting and cracking jokes. How could people do that, with a room full of strangers?
Arthur talked Fitzpatrick and Kinga through the experimental work they’d been doing in the lab. It was only one part of the elements that made up Bella, but it was key for the pure fusion energy project: high energy output. Kinga got bored quickly and started reading messages on her phone. She didn’t even pretend to look interested. Fitzpatrick stared at Arthur earnestly throughout the whole tour, nodding sagely and asking few questions. He gave the impression of understanding everything Arthur said, but it was hard to tell if he really did.
“That’s remarkable,’ said Fitzpatrick when Arthur was done. “Great work.”
Arthur couldn’t help but smile at the compliment. He’d hoped Kinga might hear this praise but she’d stepped aside now and was taking a call.
“Where did all this come from?” asked Fitzpatrick. “I can see it’s different to the route we were taking in New Mexico. How did you come up with it?”
Arthur shrugged. “It’s hard to explain.”
He didn’t come up with it. Elizabeth did. At least, Elizabeth and he did it together. That would be a hard one to get into. Anyway, that wasn’t what Arthur wanted to talk about. He had a question he wanted to ask Fitzpatrick. One that had been on his mind for twenty years.
“What happened at the facility?” he asked. “The accident. How did Elizabeth die?”
Fitzpatrick was clearly uncomfortable. He looked over at Kinga as if hoping for an escape route out of the conversation but she was still on the phone.
He said, “Listen, Arthur, I know you tried to get in touch back then. I’m sorry, but my hands were tied, I wasn’t allowed to talk to anyone. I know, it sucks.”
It didn’t just suck. It was a living nightmare. Not knowing what had happened, carrying that pain around with him and not having anyone to share it with.
“Tell me now then,” said Arthur. “Give me something.”
Fitzpatrick sighed. “I shouldn’t do this, but, as it’s you. I’m sorry to say it was Elizabeth. She made mistakes, took shortcuts. The pressure got too much. She kind of flipped out there at the end. She caused the accident.”
Elizabeth had guessed they would put the blame on her. Arthur had seen evidence of it when he’d done a little digging into her background after he got home. Her scientific reputation had been smeared, past achievements undermined. But this was the first time he’d had it confirmed that she was held accountable for what happened. It wasn’t right. Fitzpatrick was lying or had taken a lie for the truth. Elizabeth didn’t make mistakes or take shortcuts. And she definitely didn’t flip out at the end, as Fitzpatrick put it. Arthur knew that for a fact. Because he’d spoken to her just an hour before the accident happened.
---
“It’s nice to see you again, Arthur. I was disappointed you didn’t make it to our previous sessions.”
“It’s good to be back.”
Arthur was back in Amanda’s fake living room with another lovely cup of tea. He’d reconsidered his prejudices about therapy. It felt good to talk to someone who had a nice smile and no agenda other than to discuss his problems. He’d missed a few sessions in the last couple of weeks though. He’d just been too busy.
Amanda said, “You look like you’ve lost weight. Are you ok?”
Why did people keep saying that. Food wasn’t the problem. He was rarely hungry.
“I’m fine.”
“And you look exhausted. Are you getting much sleep?”
Ok, he did seem to feel tired a lot. He spent most of his time working. He did manage to get a few hours’ sleep every night. But it can’t have been good rest because he woke up feeling more tired than when he went to bed.
“Yes, some, but it’s been so busy.”
“Has anything else been worrying you?”
Just about everything was worrying him. Camilla was away in the US, he was working all hours, Elizabeth wasn’t talking to him, and then Fitzpatrick had turned up which felt like it didn’t bode well.
And there was more. But he didn’t know where to start,
Amanda said, “I’ve told you this is a safe place, Arthur. You can talk to me about anything.”
“I think someone is following me…”
It felt strange now he’d said it out loud, but in some ways a relief too. Arthur had spent his life trying to avoid people’s attention and was acutely aware when eyes were on him. He hadn’t seen whoever it was, he just felt it. Did that mean they were very good at what they were doing? Or was he just being paranoid?
“… and I think they’ve been in my house. I’ve noticed things…”
The sentence trailed off. He was losing confidence in what he was saying. Amanda’s expression hadn’t changed at all. But he could imagine what she was thinking. Arthur, the sleep deprived obsessive with paranoia. But some things in the house had moved, he was sure of it. He liked things a certain way even if it didn’t look that ordered to someone else.
Amanda said, “Who do you think it could be, following you and coming into your home?”
Jacob or Kinga? Seed Capital One protecting their investment? Robert Fitzpatrick maybe? Or maybe it was no one after all. He did feel incredibly tired.
“I don’t know. Maybe I imagined it.”
“When did you last see your family?”
“Camilla is away in America. I guess I haven’t seen the kids since before she left.”
Amanda said, “Arthur, I don’t know if someone is following you or has been in your house. It sounds unlikely but I don’t know. What I do know is that you’re in desperate need of a good diet, healthy natural sleep and to reconnect with the people who are important to you. I’m going to recommend a leave of absence from work.”
“You can’t stop me working.”
That was the last thing he needed. Jacob’s launch event was coming up soon. And then he had to get back to working on Bella with Elizabeth.
“You’re right, Arthur. I can’t stop you working. But I strongly suggest you do. Go make time see your family, while you still can. It’s not healthy trying to do all this on your own.”
She was right of course. He couldn’t do this alone.
He needed to speak to Elizabeth.
---
When Arthur lifted the door of the shed he found the lights already on and Bella raised on her platform into the room. Which was strange, he always closed things down at the end of the day. It was a relief to see Elizabeth was there, sat at his workbench. She’d been angry the last time he’d seen her. Now she just looked distant and uninterested when she saw him.
She said, “Nice of you to put in an appearance.”
“We need to talk,” said Arthur.
“Do we? I thought you weren’t bothered anymore.”
Still angry about him working for Sensidium. Hardly suprising.
“Of course I’m bothered. It’s just for a couple more weeks.”
“Whatever.”
In a way this was worse than the full blown argument they’d had before. Elizabeth clearly wanted him to feel like she’d given up on him, because he had given up on her. And it was working.
He said, “We’ll be back working together on Bella in no time.”
That was assuming his body didn’t break in the meantime, or his mind.
“It doesn’t matter anymore,” replied Elizabeth. “I’ve been working on her, without you.”
That wasn’t possible.
Arthur took a closer look at Bella. Most of what he saw was familiar of course. But there were new elements in place he’d never seen before. And what he could see was good, strong enough to be his own work. It was great they were making progress. But it was worrying too. He and Elizabeth had always worked as a team. He knew exactly what made Bella tick. This was the first time there was a part of her he didn’t know about.
He said, “How were you able to do this without me?”
“I found a way.”
It was hard to know what to think. Elizabeth clearly wasn’t in the mood to tell him. He knew that obstinate look. She was intent on ignoring him, letting him know about it too. Changing the subject was his only option.
He said, “I saw Robert Fitzpatrick today.”
“What’s he doing here?”
At least this got a reaction. Elizabeth had abandoned indifference for annoyed again. It was a welcome change, at least she was more present.
“Working for Seed Capital One.”
“I never trusted him.”
There was genuine bile in Elisabeth’s voice now. A different tone to when she was angry with Arthur. Harder, more visceral.
“He’s not a real scientist,” said Arthur. “He’s a paper shuffler.”
“That’s why he’s dangerous.”
Arthur decided it might be best not to mention what Fitzpatrick had said about the accident in New Mexico being her fault. She was riled enough as it is.
Elizabeth said, “We need to speed things up now Arthur, not slow them down.”
Amanda had suggested he do the opposite. Take some time off. But that clearly wasn’t going to go down well with Elizabeth.
He said, “Once we’re done with the tests and Jacob’s event we can get going again.”
“Do what you like,” Elizabeth had reverted to distant and disinterested. “I’m going to finish Bella, with or without you. It won’t take long now.”
Arthur took another long look at Bella. She really was beautiful. Could Elizabeth really finish her without him? It didn’t feel likely, there was so much left to do, wasn’t there? Just a couple more weeks and the launch event would be done and he could get back to working with Elizabeth on Bella.
Then he’d know how close they really were.
That’s it for Chapter 11, I hope you enjoyed it and are looking forward to more. Chapter 12 will be out the same time next week, Friday at 4:00pm UK time.
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