***** Vol.1 Chap.3 Busy morning at the office *****
When Kristin stepped into her office, stacks of incoming mail awaited her all over her desk, and at least a dozen pink slips with missed phone calls taped to her chair.
“Another one of those days,” she said to herself.
With dark clouds hanging over her still, she took off her coat and hung it behind the door. She walked around her desk, picked up the stack of phone messages, and sat down. A knock on the door interrupted her routine.
“Come in.”
Jo Ann, her secretary, came in. She was super-efficient and always seemed to know what Kristin wanted before she opened her mouth.
“Good morning, Miss Sobinowski.”
“Morning.”
Unenthusiastically and hardly looking up, Kristin muttered under her breath.
“Looks like you need a good cup of coffee this morning.”
“Most definitely!”
“I’ll be back.”
“Make it twice as strong, please!” Kristin shouted behind Jo Ann as she turned to leave.
She sat down on her favorite chair behind a large desk stacked with paper piled high on every square inch. Amidst the chaos laid a small non-functioning device being used as a paperweight. She picked it up and fingered the device, turning it over while her thoughts receded back to three years ago. As Director of Underwater Research at the Miami facilities of the National Oceanography and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), she directed research on marine animals. In addition, she supervised a host of research programs in protecting the marine environment and marine life.
But her genuine interest was with the dolphins. They were dear and near to her heart. For the past three years, she dedicated all her energy and whatever meager resources she could lay her hands on to study dolphin communication. She longed to communicate with the dolphins.
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As part of her research efforts, she built many intelligent transponders that could be attached to dolphins. She named the transponder DRD, or Deployable Recording Device. These DRDs would record everything possible about the dolphins, such as mating calls, social calls, etc.
She put the DRD back down on her desk. Her eyes wandered to the other side of her office. Inside a glass case was a model of an underwater submersible, her prized project, her pride, and joy. Ever since she began her research work with the dolphins, she dreamt of being with them. She wanted to be a dolphin swimming with them, frolicking in the ocean, and communicating with them.
With her meager budget, a small submersible shaped and colored like a dolphin came into being. The sub was designed by her and the building process supervised by her. She smiled as she lingered on the mockup model of her prized treasure.
“Miss Sobinowski…MISS SOBINOWSKI!”
Jo Ann shouted through the door, jolting Kristin from her daydreaming back to reality. So engrossed in her obsessions that she did not even hear the knock on her door.
“Oh …, come in, Jo Ann.”
Jo Ann came in with the coffee. Kristin looked at her, then picked up the cup of coffee without another word.
“Gee, you look like hell.”
“Oh, thank you very much for that observation! There is too much on my mind lately.”
Kristin smelled the coffee and took a big gulp.
“It is French Vanilla, your favorite.”
“Oh, thank you. I can use two more cups.”
“Worry about meeting with Captain Jonas?”
“Oh no! I have an upcoming meeting with that fatso. Don’t I! The meeting happened when?”
“I am about to go over today’s schedule with you. You meet with Captain Jonas in ten minutes, then with Dr. Said at 11 o’clock. At noon, you have the usual monthly lunch meeting with the staff and at one-thirty, a meeting with the other senior administrators of NOAA-Miami. After that, you have a slight break, then a test on the camera system on the sub at three thirty and the christening of the sub right after that.”
“Thanks, Jo Ann. Have you finished retyping the research schedule with the changes so I can review it with Captain Jonas?”
“Right here.” Jo Ann handed her a manila folder. “I made a couple of extra copies for him as well. He loved to scribble and scrawl all over the paper.”
“Thanks, Jo Ann, you are an angel.”
“Does that mean I get a big raise?” Jo Ann joked.
“Not in your lifetime.”
“Aw, gee, boss, you know I do good work.”
“Indeed, you do excellent work. OK, you are a lifesaver. I will see what I can do, but don’t hold your breath.”
“I won’t, but thanks in advance anyway.” Jo Ann slipped out quietly, closing the door behind her.