Counting Lost Stars by Kim van Alkemade

Author:Kim van Alkemade
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: HarperCollins
Published: 2023-07-18T00:00:00+00:00

Chapter Fifteen

Rita Klein

New York City

June 1960

What’s done is done. It was the kindest thing my mother could have said, really. It was about time I stopped tormenting myself. I’d signed the papers and left him behind. David had been with his new parents, his real parents, for close to a month. I had to accept that he belonged now to the doctor and nurse who were giving him love and a home. Like planning a computer program, I thought it through a hundred different ways. The only outcome that resulted in a happy future was the one where I let go of his memory. I suppressed the image of David I carried in my mind’s eye until it settled into a stone in the pit of my stomach. My intestines wove around it like a basket, the better to carry its weight.

What’s done is done. The phrase became my mantra. I said it as I walked up Cedar Lane on Monday morning. I muttered it on the bus ride to Manhattan. I let the thought ricochet through my brain as I finished wiring the control panel to test my program on the IBM 602.

When I was ready, Mr. McKay showed me how to insert the control panel, set the knobs and dials, and start the machine. He hovered nearby while I stacked a test set of punch cards in the hopper and pressed the start button. The typebar began hammering away. It wasn’t long before Mr. McKay tore a printed piece of paper from the platen. Processing a report on a computer was like preparing Thanksgiving dinner, I thought—weeks of planning and days of work to create something that was finished in minutes.

“That was fast,” I said.

“We were lucky today. The 602 usually takes more persuading.”

I spent a couple of hours reviewing the test report to make sure the program ran the way I intended. As far as I could see, it did. I asked Mr. McKay to double-check.

“Leave it on your desk. I’ll take a look in the morning. Even if you need to make a few tweaks, I’d say your idea of using master codes has been proven correct, and on the very first try. Impressive, Miss Klein. Olympia should start using the new codes right away. Did you write up instructions?”

I nodded. The whole idea of using master codes was to make it as easy as possible for the girl who punched cards at Olympia, so the instructions were pretty simple.

“Good. She’ll have to go back a few weeks to get the work they’ve already done correctly coded, but from here on out the Constellation reports should be smooth sailing.” He paused to smile at his pun. “I’ll have Gladys send a messenger to Brooklyn to deliver the instructions. Why don’t you give Francie a call to let her know?”

Francie’s Brooklyn accent was even stronger on the telephone than in person. “Thanks, Rita. I needed some good news. Things around here are going from bad to worse.

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