Futura Memoratia

Chapter 5 potentia (power)

Emily walked stiffly back to her lab, mentally chastising herself the whole way.  She’d let herself get caught up in them—the absurd notions inspired by the dreams.  She’d forgotten that she’d had to drag him, practically kicking and screaming, to her lab—to do the work that he was supposed to be doing, after all.  Why?  Because his irritation had somehow vanished and he was smiling at her, complimenting her, seemingly genuinely curious about her.  Seriously!  The man had to be bipolar or something, damn it!  Then she’d been mesmerized by his pretty blue eyes and their intense gazes, with her traitorous stomach fluttering every time he pointed them at her, like some lovesick teenager.  What was she thinking?  He wasn’t even willing to acknowledge her presence just hours before and she had stupidly sat there, revealing one of her most intensely private experiences to him.  She couldn’t believe she had done that when all she knew about him for sure was that he was a jerk.  

This just was not going as she imagined it would.  Not at all.

When she arrived at her lab, Emily discovered two of McKay’s scientists twiddling their thumbs, waiting for her, forcing her to mentally switch gears and shake off her consternation.  There was a German woman, a tall, thin blonde with modern, unusually-shaped glasses, Dr. Ada Neumann, who was trained as an engineer.  And a short, nerdy-looking, American male scientist, Dr. Mark Graden, who specialized in electronics.  They brought several cases of equipment with them.  Emily pulled on some gloves and doled them out for them to don and then set a device in front of them.  

“This, I believe, is an induction charging station,” she told them, gesturing at the grey, disk-like object, fourteen inches in diameter with three raised platforms artfully rising about two inches above the disc itself.  “I have seen something somewhat like it on Earth—however there is no mention of it in the database, so it’s up to us to verify.”  She outlined how she believed the device functioned and left them to it after handing them a printed list of her working protocols which included a very long section about safety.

Neumann returned her gaze stoically, but Graden was lit up with enthusiasm.  “Do you have any idea of the scope of applications this technology could have? If it works, this could be incredible!” Graden voiced.  Neumann patiently waited for direction.

“I assure you, there are already people on Earth researching a similar device with commercial applications in mind.  So, for now, our primary purpose is determining if it still works—so it can be used.  Once you establish that it’s functioning, we’ll need to try charging something.  I was thinking something small.  Do you know of any small Lantean devices that have lost their charge?”

Neumann looked thoughtful.  “There is the personal shield Dr. McKay used in the early days of the expedition.  I know where it is.”

“Good.  Let’s try that, then.”  Emily nodded.  This was a good start.  She turned from them and put on her radio, which she normally left in a drawer because it was too distracting, and contacted Dr. Beckett. 

“Dr. Beckett—do you have any small, Lantean medical devices in the infirmary which appear to have a very low battery charge or perhaps are completely dead?”

“Yes, I believe there are a few,” he said.

“Well, I believe I may have a device in my lab that could recharge them for you if you would like to bring them up.  And if you have a few minutes to spare I have some partially translated medical literature that I would like to share with you, to see if you could shed some light on it.  There are a few medical terms I’m unfamiliar with and I don’t have anyone else to consult.”

“Well, isn’t that brilliant?  I’d be happy to do that, love.  When do you need me?”  He sounded cheerful, as usual.

“Any time you’re free.”