*****.Vol.1 Chap.7 Debacle at the christening event *****
Kristin headed towards the dry dock housing her submersible. As she left the building and cleared the adjoining administration building, the research vessel, Mayflower, came into full view. Though not a big ship, the sight of the ship inspired awe. As much as she admired the vessel, it represented too much of Jonas. She shivered, trying to shake off the image of him rising from her subconsciousness. With determination, she put him out of her mind and stepped up her pace towards the dry dock.
Through one of the side doors, she spotted her submersible in one corner. Swarms of technicians worked around it. She walked straight to the sub, held her hand out touching the sub skin as she walked around it, examining every detail and every change since she last saw the sub two days ago. Her favorite activity was to tuck on a cable to be sure that it was installed properly, or to pull on an external lamp to make sure that it was bolted on tightly. The technicians all understood her obsession and largely ignored her.
During the last few months, seeing the sub coming together had been her sole consolation, her primary source of pride and joy. Coming to the dry dock and watching the workers assembling the different components of the sub worked wonders on her depression. She would walk around the sub, touching every piece of metal and every part of the sub-components. To her, the sub was her beloved child. The sub was conceived by her, designed by her, built for her. In short, it became part of her, no; it was her.
“Hi, Kristin.” A scruffy-looking engineer in a white coat came toward her.
“Hi, Tom. Ready for the camera test?”
“Camera test? Was that not till 3:30 this afternoon? Another thirty minutes.” Distraught and jolted into attention by the question, Tom passed his hand over his balding hair.
“Easy, Tom. It is at 3:30. I have some extra time, so I would come down and help.”
“Gee, Kristin. You are going to give me a heart attack before the project is over.” They both laughed. They had a great working relationship together.
Tom is a good man, although he takes everything too seriously.
As a result, Kristin loved teasing him and drove him insane most of the time.
“Are the monitors in the cockpit installed?”
“Yes, they were installed this morning.”
“Great. I will hide inside the cockpit and get out of your way.”
“You are not in the way.”
“OK, out of your hair, then.”
She teased him, especially because Tom’s almost bald head was very noticeable.
“That would be much appreciated.”
Kristin noticed the sub had been moved to the staging area for christening and for loading later. The whole sub resembled a dolphin from afar. The head and body of the sub were painted in a gray color, making it appear like a real dolphin. Many appendages at the front and back of the sub were neatly tucked underneath the sub and out of sight when not in use. She walked over to the sub, stretched her hand, and tenderly ran her fingers through the midline of the sub.
Her sub resembled a dolphin. She hoped her sub would be accepted by a real dolphin. Though no one ever considered twice about her mechanical contraption being accepted by a real dolphin. But to her, she insisted vehemently on the sub shaped as a dolphin. No one could convince her otherwise, so they leave her to her fantasy.
The technicians departed from the sub now. She saw one technician giving a thumbs-up sign to Tom. Sounds like it is time for the camera test. “Tom, are we ready for the camera test?” She yelled over to Tom.
“Just one more minute, please. I will check the cables as soon as I finish this paperwork here.”
“Don’t bother. I’ll check it myself.”
“Okay, thanks.”
“Cables all good, Tom.” She yelled back.
“Okay, let’s give it a test.”
She climbed back inside the sub and swiveled her chair to the back, facing the back panel. She checked all the subsystems and activated the master power switch. There was no loud banging sound except a quiet hum of fans from some hidden electronics. Now turning to the front, two enormous monitors faced her. She waited a second for the monitors to warm up and switched the front two cameras to the front monitors. The monitors came to life, each showing what the cameras saw. She looked out the two side windows to double-check the view. Yes, the view appeared the same as what was shown on the monitor.
So far, so good. She smiled.
Next, she checked the controls for the cameras. Each camera had been equipped with a remote positioning device governed by a joystick on the switch panel. As she moved the joystick, the camera turned, showing different views of the lab. She tried zooming in and out. Yup, that worked as well. Just like a little kid with very itchy fingers on a new toy, she wanted to try out every feature available to her.
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As she panned the cameras, she noticed various technicians and playfully zoomed in on what they were doing. Wait! Was that Tom by the door talking to someone? That was uncharacteristic of Tom who was not much of a talker. She could not figure out whom Tom was talking to. She zoomed in for a better look. But the person was half hidden behind the door. At the extreme limit of her equipment, she realized the shape belonged to no one else but her nemesis, Jonas. She froze for a minute, wondering why Jonas appeared here talking to Tom. Unfortunately, she could not dwell on this angle too long as she had no time to waste. She had to move on to check other aspects of the system.
With the camera check done, time had arrived for the christening of the sub. She scanned the back of the lab and noticed a small crowd had already gathered near the refreshment table. Like a pro now, she popped out of the sub and closed the hatch. After straightening her dress using the window as a mirror, she headed towards the refreshment table. She picked up a drink and walked over to Tom with a thumbs-up sign. Of course, she grinned from ear to ear. She waited two years for this moment. Tom looked anxious but relaxed after she told him that the system check on the cameras completed perfectly.
Happily, she maneuvered to the front of the crowd and cleared her throat. Raising her voice, she said, “May I have your attention, please?”
The room fell quiet.
“Thank you for coming to this important moment in time to christen the submersible. It has been two years since the initial inception of the sub and we finally have a real working marvel in front of us. Before the christening ceremony, we like to ask Dr. Tom Towson, the head of this NOAA manufacturing facility, to say a few words. Tom?”
Kristin clapped as the rest of the people followed.
“Thank you, Kristin. I am very proud to be here to introduce this beautiful submersible to you. I admit I was skeptical at first when the idea of building such a sub was laid in front of me. It seemed impossible at the beginning. But through Kristin’s ingenuity and resourcefulness, we are now standing in front of this sub.” There was a short applause.
He continued, “I have had the chance to work with Kristin, Captain Jonas, and many others over the past two years. Indeed, we have accomplished much in a short time and with a limited budget. So, without further ado, let me introduce Captain Jonas, who has agreed to perform the christening ceremony. Ladies and gentlemen, Captain Jonas.”
There was another round of applause, much louder and more enthusiastic this time.
Huh? Jonas? You gotta be kidding! Kristin raised her eyebrows and mumbled to herself. What has Jonas to do about the sub?
As far as the building of the sub was concerned, Jonas was never involved in any part. She was confused. Besides, Tom was supposed to perform the christening ceremony. Who invited Jonas to come, anyway? This was her party and someone stole all her limelight!
Jonas stepped up to the front in his usual pompous way.
“Colleagues! This is indeed a great honor to be here.” He exclaimed. “I like to salute Tom and his engineering team for putting together such a beautiful machine.”
And no mention of my name? Kristin was about to puke; although she put on a small grin on her face so as not to spoil the moment.
Jonas continued, “I have always dreamed of such a machine as an accessory on my vessel. I have argued even five years ago with upper management to secure funds for such a vessel. Tom, I still remember about four years ago, in that Washington briefing, we talked about the idea of such a sub during the coffee break. You remember, Tom?” Jonas looked over to Tom, who busied himself with the cookies on the refreshment table.
“Oh, yes, yes, we talked about that.” Tom replied. Kristin noticed that a puzzled look came across Tom’s face while replying.
“I am so happy that we now finally have the reality of my dream in front of us,” Jonas continued emphasizing the words ‘my dream.’
Your dream? Ha! What a joke! Kristin said silently to herself. Since when have you ever lifted one finger to help me with the building of this sub? She can hardly contain herself. She could barely hold herself down so that she would not run to the front and tackle the man to the ground.
Jonas proudly bellowed out the rest of his speech, smirking as he glanced at Kristin. “I am very much looking forward to the maiden voyage and putting my sub to the full test. Once fully tested, I am convinced that this sub would be a valuable addition to my vessel.” Another round of applause came.
My…my…my. Ha! Not in your lifetime, bozo. Kristin could not believe what the man was saying.
“Ladies and gentlemen, it is now time to christen the sub.” He pulled out a nice bottle of champagne and walked over to the sub, motioning everyone to gather around. As everyone headed to the sub, Jonas caught sight of Kristin again and smiled wryly.
As an afterthought and adding insult to injury, Jonas spoke to the crowd around him making sure that his voice was loud enough for Kristin to hear, “I do want to acknowledge the hard work of my good friend Kristin in bringing my dream into a reality.”
Ouch, that hurts. Kristin, now sick to her stomach, held back her vomit at that statement. In her mind, she had punched the man in the face many times already.
“So, considering her hard work, I like her to have the honor of naming the sub. Kristin, what should we call the sub?” What a show, since Jonas had argued for a long time the name of the sub she gave.
The crowd turned to Kristin.
“Jennifer.”
“As you wish. Although to me, perhaps Enterprise or Odyssey would be a better choice.” Jonas said loudly in a patronizing tone. “So, ladies and gentlemen, may I present to you: Jennifer!”
He flung the bottle of champagne towards the sub with a flare. The bottle flew towards the sub and hit one of the front lights. The bottle broke as the crowd cheered. But Kristin saw that the bottle broke the lens of the front lamp. That really hurt. Now she had to replace the lens on the lamps before the maiden voyage. Her intuition convinced her that Jonas did that deliberately.
After the cheer settled, Jonas continued. “Please come around and look at my beautiful sub. Touch it and admire its beauty.”
Jonas went to the refreshment table, helped himself to a healthy serving of the goodies, and promptly left the room.
Though still steaming with anger, Kristin breathed a sigh of relief. She grabbed a drink and mingled with the crowd a bit. Before leaving, she made sure that she took time to walk over to Tom and shook his hand and commended him for a job well done. She found Tom a sympathetic friend, and she had worked well with him in the past years.
As she was heading back to her office, she was elated by the day’s accomplishments. But seeing and hearing Jonas at the ceremony had totally ruined her day. His presence appeared as a gadfly in a bottle of fine ointment.
On her way back home, she again had an uneasiness that something sinister brewing. What game was Jonas playing? An uneasiness continued to rise within her and her dream last night surfaced again to nag her. She understood her calling to make a breakthrough in dolphin communication. Maybe her life had a greater purpose? But what, she had no clue.