Back in Kevin’s own house, Eric sat down in the dining room with the plate of roast that Harriet had left for him, and read over his notes for the presentation he would be giving tomorrow. He had been through the routine many times before, and had no delusions that anything much was likely to change as a result of it. The minds of the orthodoxy were closed on the subject. Nobody questioned basics these days. What passed for science had degenerated into a competition of devising pretexts to attract funding from political bureaucracies. Who cared if an experiment performed a century ago had been accorded the wrong interpretation—particularly if it meant that a huge part of the theoretical work going on today, apart from creating platoons of jobs and helping to keep the paper mills busy, was largely a waste of time?
Eric was one of the few who cared. He cared because in his view, most of what was going on wasn’t science at all. Science meant having an open attitude to what might or might not be, a simple, sincere desire to know what was. When no further examination was permitted of what had been decided was true, and inconvenient facts became non-subjects, then science had given way to fundamentalism. The spectacles featured in the news documentaries and magazines—bigger accelerators, faster computers, fancier satellites—were orgies of technology: maybe more refined and polished than what had gone before, but still essentially more of the same. Nothing was being discovered that was radically new. And whenever official eminences proclaimed this to be because there was little new left to be discovered, as happened periodically through the centuries and had once again become fashionable, it was invariably a sign of science in trouble and due for an overhaul.
“Ah, yes it is. I thought you were back.” Vanessa came through the doorway from the kitchen. “You found your dinner?”
“Mm. Harriet left it in the microwave.”
“Is it okay?”
“Just fine.”
“I thought you’d be back earlier.”
“So did I. We ran into a bit of a snag with feedback resonances.” Eric indicated the rest of the house with a vague motion of his head. “Is Kevin around, or did he go over to Taki’s?”
“He must have gone to Taki’s,” Vanessa said. “I’m pretty sure he’s not here. How about you? Have you decided whether you’ll be staying till tomorrow, or will you be traveling tonight?”
“Oh, it’s getting late now. I’ll leave it until morning. Do you still want me to use the Jag?”
Vanessa nodded. “I would. There are a couple of boxes of things down by the back seat—brushes, paints, and craft things. Do you mind if I leave them there? Thelma left them when she was here the other day. I’ll be seeing her again next week.”
Eric shook his head as he ate. “No problem. I’ll only be taking one bag. You sure you’ll be okay with the Jeep?”
“I’ll use the van if I need to go anywhere far.”
“Um. I think Doug’s borrowed it again—doing more work on his house over the weekend, or something.”
“Oh, if I get stuck I can always call Harriet. I’ll manage somehow.” Vanessa looked around, remaining in the doorway. “Well, there’s something I need to finish in the den. I’ll leave you to your dinner.”
Eric nodded as Vanessa turned away. Her footsteps receded across the kitchen and out the far side. Eric carried on eating in silence. Just for once, it would have been nice if she’d offered to get herself a coffee, sit down with him, and talk about something, he thought to himself.
Kitchens, dinners, which car to use, and boxes in the back. Vanessa had hoped this relationship might include some recognition of her worth as a scientist. Instead, she was supposed to become a full-time version of Harriet. Eric had done a smooth job of enticing her away from Microbotics and its realities of the kind he would never be able to deal with. She was expected to become part of this dream world that he had created to escape into, to be an accessory—a complement to his life, but no more. She sat down in the den, picked up the phone, and tapped in Payne’s number. Well, Eric had picked the wrong person, she told herself as she heard the ring tone and waited. It was a harsh way to have to learn such basics, maybe. But she hadn’t made the rules.
Page: 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36 37 38 39 40 41 42 43 44 45 46 47 48 49 50 51 52 53 54 55 56 57 58 59 60 61 62 63 64 65 66 67 68 69 70 71 72 73 74 75 76 77 78 79 80 81 82 83 84 85 86 87 88 89 90 91 92 93 94 95 96 97 98 99 100 101 102 103 104 105 106 107 108 109 110 111 112 113 114 115 116 117 118 119 120 121 122 123 124 125 126 127 128 129 130 131 132 133 134 135 136 137 138 139 140 141 142 143 144 145 146 147 148 149 150 151 152 153 154 155