The Astounding, the Amazing, and the Unknown by Paul Malmont

Author:Paul Malmont
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Simon & Schuster
Published: 2011-03-11T05:00:00+00:00

ISSUE 3

THE COLD ELECTRICITY OF DREAMS

EPISODE 21

GINNY’S BUNSEN BURNER was set so low that the flame sputtered, repeatedly threatening to completely die. The heat had to be as low as possible, but the irregularity was becoming a real distraction. She gave the throttle the tiniest tweak and the flame steadied—at least enough so she could continue to distill the mineral oil without completely boiling it away. There was a noise from Bob’s office, causing her to instinctively look up. False alarm. Walb had accidentally stepped on one of the model ships by the executive offices, but she could see through the blinds that Bob was still absent. That was fine. She didn’t need to know his every movement or whereabouts. He didn’t really owe her anything. He was a married man and he had his own life.

She just would have liked to see him, that was all. She hadn’t seen him since she’d let him take her out for a dinner.

Her eyes dropped from his silent door back to her worktable. Before her were a variety of large jars nestled amongst a number of healthy potted plants: the components of her experiments, as well as the fruits of her labor. In one of the glasses was a gallon of liquid designed to repel insects from Africa to Europe to Asia. The only problem was that there were so many different kinds of insects, sensitive to so many different scents, that the only substance she could come up with smelled so abhorrent that no soldier would put it on to test it. Still, she’d continued to try to work to reduce its odor until Reinhart had asked her, begged actually, to stop. Then she’d turned her attention to plant extracts, to see if there were any useful applications for highly concentrated oils.

She liked being here at the lab. It was better than the bakery in New York she’d been working at before Eleanor Roosevelt had convinced the Navy to launch the program that had finally given her a chance to serve her country, Women Accepted for Volunteer Emergency Service. Ginny had signed up on the very day the WAVES began accepting applications. Because of her degree from New York University, she’d been selected for officer training and sent to the Naval Reserve Midshipmen’s School at Smith College. She’d loved the drilling and lectures in naval history. And because of her years as a figure skater, she excelled particularly at the physical education aspects, always placing first in any athletic competition.

The mineral oil vapor wafted through ever finer series of glass and copper coils surrounding the beaker, which was suspended over the flame, until it vanished as it vented out the top of the tubing. The chalky scent was as familiar to her as her own perfume. In fact, she’d inhaled enough of her own special blend over the years that she probably exuded it. Probably one of the reasons she always attracted lab types.

“What are you up to?” Sprague de Camp, one of Bob’s favorites, dropped his long frame into an available chair by her table.

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