RESTORATION (a science fiction novel) (RESTORATION (the science fiction trilogy)) (13 page)

  Panicking he grabbed the Desk phone hand set just as Tim rounded the doorway into his office.  Dodge had to think fast and began speaking loudly and firmly into the phone trying to ignore the dial tone blaring in his ear.

“Look I don’t care what excuses you may have I need those parts by the end of the month or I’m going to drop you guys and find another supplier, we have deadlines to meet and I know for a fact that I can get them elsewhere . . .”

He paused for a moment to allow for an imaginary rebuttal from the imaginary caller . . .      

“Look I understand, you have a supply chain too but I can’t wait.  Oh let you explain?  Okay, go ahead, but if I have to listen to this entire excuse again I’m going to expect a sizeable discount on the parts for having to wait.”  He looked up and Tim was pointing to his mouth with both index fingers while liping, “I’ll come back later.” Dodge gave him the thumbs up and Tim went on up the hall to his own office. 

Phew!  He should be getting an academy award for all the incredible acting he had done in the last several days.  First an elaborate tapestry of stories woven to satisfy his wife’s insatiable curiosity, and now he was having to put on a show for Tim as well.   He didn’t know how much longer could he keep this stuff up.  

The program was still running and the little dots were still ticking along as he hung up the handset.  He looked at his desk clock, it was 3:21 and it still hadn’t . . .   Ah, yes, a list appeared in a little window.  He quickly tabbed down through several similar files from the same project, and there is was.  He found the exact
file he was looking for.  It had a last accessed date of 06-15-2046 and the name was R. Simpson. 

Ron Simpson was on that project back then so that was no real surprise.  Out to the right were options with a little legend which he quickly perused . . . , view contents= VC + enter.  He quickly typed VC in the box and hit the enter key, he was down to just under two minutes. 

The file opened quickly and with no time to look at it he simply focused on the legends to see which one he wanted. 
         “Copy window contents all=ca+enter.”  He typed ca in the box and hit enter and another box appeared on the screen.
         “Type path + enter,” there was a little box with the blinking cursor, what the heck? His mind was going blank!

He was running out of time. 
“Oh shit the microdrive!”
He was distracted by Tim coming in and he hadn’t plugged in a microdrive. 

He frantically ripped open his desk drawer and grabbed a blank drive out of the box and jammed it in the port.  Think! Think!  He had to think!  What’s the path?  He was so spoiled by point and click programs and voice commands that he couldn't even remember the basics. 

What was it?  His brain kicked into high gear but what only took three seconds seemed like forever, then it came to him . . . ,
         “md/p1/write ” (microdrive, port1, write) it was so simple but he hadn’t done a manual command like that since college.  He completely locked up under the pressure.  A little box popped up . . . , “executing” with the little running dots underneath.   “Come on, come on, come on,” he knew it was going to be close. 

There was no indicator of any kind, in this basic DOS like program.  He had no indication of the file progress.   There was only the little box that said executing and the little running dots under it ticking along. 

He looked at the clock again it was 3:34 P.M., less than a minute left before it would time out.  It was going to be close and he was hoping it would finish; he didn’t want to have to go through all of this again.   Yes! It was done!  The little box displayed “complete.”

He was looking for the way to end the program in the legend when the computer automatically shut off.  It had timed out just seconds after it finished copying the contents of the file. 

He removed the microdrive and put it in his pocket for safe keeping, before rebooting the machine.  It came back up in the ESS operating system and seemed to be working perfectly.

  John was a genius that’s for sure.  Who else could create a program that slick and powerful in such a small package? 

He whipped out his phone and called John.  John answered on the first ring again.
         “Did it work?”
         “Hell yes it worked!  What time should I come over?”
         “As soon as possible, I can’t wait to see this thing and figure out what this guy was up to.” 

“All right I’ll check with Linsey to make sure we don’t have a game or something that we have to go to.”

“Okay, let me know, bye.”

  A few minutes later Tim walked back into Dodge’s office.      “So buddy, whose ass you picking out of your teeth?  Oh and by the way thanks for the whole tie noose thing in the hall earlier, I was really trying to give that guy the evil eye and you almost made me laugh.” 

“You’re welcome boss, what are friends for? 
Right?”
         “Hey why don’t you come to the club with me in a little bit and we can play some skins?”
         “Oh man, I would love to take your money but I promised Bobby I’d come to his final ball game tonight.  He joined one of those summer leagues and I’ve only made it to one game.”
         “Oh, I understand that completely you should definitely go to that.  We can get together another night.  Oh, and what? Take my money?   That’s a laugh!  Challenge accepted, with a rain check of course.  Hey, how’s Bobby doing anyway?  Is he adjusting well to his situation?”
         “Yeah, he really is.  None of the other kids from school or the basketball teams have said anything to him other than just general questions.  Several asked what it was like to get restored but they’re just curious I’m sure.  Bobby said several kids told him they have grandparents or parents that have been restored.”
         “Yeah, it’s becoming the norm.  Give him my best.”

             
“Will do.”

             
“Hey, by the way, I know he’s a big basketball fanatic but it sure would be fun if you brought him out to the course sometime.  I’m going to bring my nephew Chris out some this summer. Maybe you could bring Bobby and we could all play a few rounds together.”
         “That’s a great idea.  I’ll ask Bobby tonight to see if he’s interested.” 

Dodge was doing his best to act normal with Tim because they had been friends for a very long time.  He knew Tim would be able to sense a problem if he gave even the slightest hint that there was one. 

Dodge’s mind was preoccupied during the entire conversation.  He couldn’t wait to get out of there and get to John’s.  They made some small talk for another minute and went their separate ways.

On the way home he remembered that he had not talked to his Father to update him on the whole “going out for a burger thing.”  He hit the call button on the steering wheel and said, “
call Dad.”  He was hoping that Linsey hadn’t called him asking questions. 
         “Dad, how are you?”
         “Pretty good.”         

             
“Have you talked to Linsey?”
         “Yes, and oh boy, did she ask a bunch of questions?”

             
“Oh no.” 

             
“No, I’m kidding really.  She did call and she did say a lot.  I had to read between the lines to figure out that you and I went out for a burger!”
         “I’m sorry about that Dad.  I intended to call you for an update so you would know what to say if she called.” 

“Yeah well I don’t know what you’re into but I hope you get it straightened out soon, I don’t like it.”
         “Don’t worry Dad, it’s nothing really, I promise.  I’ll fill you in soon okay?”
         “Okay, and I’ll see you Sunday for lunch, seems were having Linsey’s famous fried chicken.  I got an earful for eating a burger when her chicken was available.”  Dodge laughed.

“Sorry Dad.”

“Nothing like getting yelled at by my daughter in-law for not eating her chicken and I didn’t get to eat the burger either.”
         “I’ll make it up to you, lots’ of Linsey’s chicken and we’ll go out for a burger too!”  Alan laughed.  He was so much happier now.  Dodge hadn’t seen him act like this since before his Mother died.  He was really glad that his Father would be going through with Restoration in just a few days. 

“Okay, Dad, I’ll see you Sunday for dinner if not sooner, Love you.”
         “Love you too Son, be careful!” 

As he hung up the phone, he realized he hadn’t told his Dad he loved him for a really long time.  There were a lot of positives in their lives and yet this cloud was hanging over his head.   

He knew he wasn’t spending enough time at home and he really needed to go there first before going over to John’s.  He pulled into the garage and went in through the kitchen to find something that smelled great simmering on the stove and what appeared to be a cobbler in the oven with the door partially open just enough to make the entire house smell like a bakery.

“Hello?”  He
call out, as he poked around a little more to see what was cooking.  He lifted the lid just in time to get caught by Linsey and Sarah coming into the kitchen. 

“Well that seems about right come in and go right for the food without kissing your wife.”  Linsey had a big smile on her face and was standing there looking better than ever with her hands half in her front jean pockets.  She was looking Dodge up and down with those big green eyes from the other side of the center Island.  Sarah was looking like she was bracing herself to be grossed out.
         “Oh god, you guys aren’t gonna start kissing are you?  Ya know there’s food in here, some of us don’t want to be sick.” 

Just then Bobby came running in, basketball in hand, covered in sweat, his hair matted to his forehead.  Dodge couldn’t believe how much weight he had put on already, he must have gained ten pounds since he got home from the hospital.  Clone bodies are always healthy but not necessarily an exact match in muscle mass.  They are always very lean at first and then they develop based on the person’s life style after Restoration.  Surprisingly overweight people usually ended up being overweight again after being restored because their new body adjusted to their habits as much as anything else. 

Dodge leaned over the Island and gave Linsey a big kiss just to fulfill Sarah’s prophecy of being grossed out.
         “Oh, yuck, you guys, eeck,” she squeaked, as she left the room while pretend gagging.  Bobby just made the usual kissing sounds and started laughing at them.
         “Get a room you two!”  said Bobby. 

Dodge hollered at Sarah.
         “Hey, how’s come its gross when we do it, but great when you’re slobbering all over your boyfriend?”  She had already left the room but came back with the classic, “Because you’re old and it’s gross.”  It made Linsey laugh.

Dodge was glad to see his son doing so well.  Nearly losing a child makes you have a new appreciation for them.
         “Hey young man, how’s everything going?” he asked.

             
“Not too bad Dad.”
         “Sit down here while your Mom finishes dinner and tell me about your day.”  Bobby washed his hands and started to plop down but Linsey shoved some plates into his stomach before he could and he knew the drill.  He began walking around setting the table while telling his Dad how Gramps came over and showed him and Matt how to do that trick hook shot that he was so good at in his glory days. 

He went on to say that Grandpa was in a great mood and having fun but had to sit down to rest and catch his breath after he had a bad coughing fit.  Linsey arrived with the silverware which she deposited in Bobby’s hands without saying anything.  Bobby continued walking around the table putting them out while they talked.

“I can’t wait until Grandpa gets restored.  Hey will his birthday change?” 

Linsey let out a little laugh from over by the stove.
         “Sorry,” she said, holding up one hand in Bobby’s direction without looking away from her task.  Dodge couldn’t help but think how great this was going to be.
         “No, his birthday will be the same.  We’re planning to have a get together when he comes home from the LifeCenter because it really is a new start but not a new birthday.  I don’t think we’ll ever forget the day or year that this happened because it is pretty special.” 

“Is Grandpa going to look really young like me or more like you?”
         “He decided to be age 50 or at least look like he did when he was fifty.  He’ll look a lot younger than he does now and his body will be unused so he’ll feel like he’s eighteen again.”
         “Wow, that’s great Dad I can’t wait.”  Dinner was ready and they all sat down to a meal and some good overdue conversation.  It was nice to slow down and catch up on what everyone was doing these last few days. 

Linsey asked Sarah to help her clean up and Bobby ran outside again to shoot basketball.  Dodge carried a few dishes over to help out and then slipped up to the study.  He had to look at that microdrive, he might not be able to get to John’s house but he could certainly look at the file.  He could send John a copy so that he could look at it too.

He fired up the PC and popped the microdrive into the port.  He quickly opened a view window and brought the content of the drive up on the screen.  He grabbed his phone.
         “Call JC.”  John answered on the first ring.
         “Oh man, I’ve been waiting for your call like a girl on prom night!  you coming over?”