New Eden by Kishore Tipirneni

Author:Kishore Tipirneni [Tipirneni, Kishore]
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9780578534510
Published: 2019-08-31T22:00:00+00:00

22

Session 103

Joshua drove his Harley-Davidson through the streets of Berkeley, Rachael sitting behind him, her chin on his shoulder, arms wrapped around his waist as her brunette hair, bunched into a ponytail, whipped in the morning wind from underneath her helmet. Rachael was exhilarated as the bike, Joshua, and she felt like a single mechanism traveling the road. At the end of the ride, Joshua downshifted as the bike eased up the driveway of the NASA BOWMAN PARTICLE RESEARCH CENTER. It had been almost a year since NASA had procured the center from the university.

Rachael felt content and at ease as she did almost every morning since she’d met Joshua. Their relationship had blossomed into one of true love, friendship, and mutual respect. Rachael had imparted to Joshua her love for the outdoors as evidenced by the frequent hikes they took through the forests close to Berkeley.

“Whew!” Rachael said. “Maybe this is what it feels like when petrins and arachnids travel together. It’s like a symbiotic relationship!”

“Maybe I should teach you to ride one day,” Joshua suggested as he dismounted and removed his helmet. “You seem to understand the Zen of riding a Harley.”

“It’s a great machine, but it pollutes the atmosphere,” Rachael said, “but . . .”

“But what?”

“But it’s also really kick-ass fun. And you weren’t kidding. You’re really good on that thing.”

“That thing is a Harley-Davidson Street Bob—a bobber—and it has a Milwaukee-Eight 107 engine with one hundred and ten foot-pounds of engine torque. You went sky diving with Vinod, so why not push another envelope and learn to ride.”

“Tempting,” she said. Rachael looked at the handsome scientist and the Harley as she smoothed her hair. “Okay. Deal.” They walked hand in hand towards the atrium.

“Good morning Dr. Andrews, Miss Miller,” Charlotte said as she greeted the couple with a smile. She was seated at the counter in the atrium as usual.

“Good morning, Charlotte,” Rachael replied as she and Joshua walked around her into the main corridor of the facility while Charlotte logged them in on her computer.

“She’s always so formal,” Rachael remarked after they had gotten out of earshot.

Joshua shrugged his shoulders and replied with a one-word answer, “British,” as if that alone was a justification for her formality.

As they walked through the complex, they ran into Rodrigo, who was wearing an ill-fitting lab coat with a tee shirt underneath that read I EAT AT THE RESTAURANT AT THE EDGE OF THE UNIVERSE. He walked towards them eating a donut, its powdered sugar coating covering his fingers and a small portion around his mouth.

“Hey Rodrigo,” Joshua said as he approached. “That’s a new look for you.”

“Hey, boss. Maybe they can force me to wear this coat, but I have a few tricks up my sleeve—and in my pocket.” He produced a second donut from the right-side pocket. “The NASA people look at me all weird, but they don’t know crap about the tokamak, so they usually steer clear of me.”

“Don’t let ‘em get under your skin,” Joshua advised.

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