Chapter 3

The next day Katrina sat with Kristin and Silvia in Dr. Jenkins’ office. They were meeting to go over some preliminary sketches so that they would have a rough idea of what their special team project entailed. Katrina picked up one of the drawings to see the detail without the distraction of the markings that were showing through from the sketch on the piece of paper that had been beneath it on the desk. The paper was so thin that light could pass through it if you held it up to a lamp. It was like tissue paper, only slightly thicker.

Katrina had a hooded sweatshirt on. Silvia wore an over large coat with a hat that covered her short hair. Both had decided on jeans that day which irked Silvia. They were each using their hat and hood as a way to avoid superfluous eye contact and they were both happy about it.

Since their last encounter Katrina had kept Silvia at arm’s length and had chosen not to communicate. Silvia was unsure if Katrina was just embarrassed about having blurted out that she might have to retake a class or if there was another issue that she wasn’t aware of yet. She had tried to maintain the distance Katrina wanted, hoping that Katrina would eventually open up. But it hadn’t happened yet. Kristin seemed oblivious to any potential conflict between them. She sat in her MIT t-shirt and khakis engrossed in the material she had been given to study.

Dr. Jenkins had specifically scheduled this meeting for a time when the girls could arrive unnoticed in the deserted hallways. Jenkins had locked his office door after they entered and had asked them to turn off their cell phones as he showed them to the seats he had arranged around his desk. Brenant, the Lawyer, was already seated off to the side.

“This meeting is to get your side project started. Of course I must insist that you not discuss this project with anyone, even those who are part of the larger team. This is the one and only meeting I will have with you about this project. Illustrated in pen is a set of instruments that are being provided by the race committee as an offensive means to advance in the race.

 “Obviously when cars are disabled with this device, they will be disqualified and removed. Your job is to make a device that will work under extreme race conditions. The electrical will be provided. All controls must be through bluetooth. No wiring will be set up in advance. You have to create the best possible device to make the laser work effectively.”

The girls studied the design. “The design in pencil, is that what we are supposed to build?” Silvia asked.

“No.” Jenkins said. “This is just a starting point, a very basic design. I’m sure that with the talent sitting before me, you can come up with some much more creative ways to make it work for our team.”

Katrina had set the drawing down and put both her hands in her sweat shirt’s pockets as she studied the other drawings on the desk in front of her. “Wait, so we are going to build a weapon that will disable another car in the race? How can such a small laser disable another car?”

Dr. Jenkins nodded and smiled. “Ahh, now we get to the most important part. The bodies are already built. They were designed to have two conductive layers separated by epoxy. No one else on the team knows why the bodies were prebuilt. This aspect of the race is supposed to be the secret weapon built into an already secret race. Your job is to create the weapon that will allow our driver to win.

“The idea here is that this small laser,” Jenkins pointed to the piece of paper on the desk that showed the image of the device, “will fire its beam into the surface of the body for at least three seconds. The exterior surface of the specially made body will be heated enough by the laser to melt the epoxy beneath it and cause the two layers to touch. When that happens the car will shut down and signal that the car is out if the race.”

Katrina looked up at Silvia and saw a reflection of her own relief in the other girl’s eyes. They had obviously each had thoughts of missile launching systems, not this virtually harmless laser. Kristin actually looked vaguely disappointed.

Jenkins saw their reactions and quickly added, “Oh, you thought we going to destroy the cars? Watch them crash and burn?” He laughed. “No, we don’t want to kill anyone. You are to design a device that will disable the car only. How the driver reacts is up to them but for the most part, the weapon that you will create will burn the fuselage of the car only. That’s all. Of course, it is still a potentially dangerous device. It will have enough power to catch clothing on fire, melt skin or burn wood if it’s focused on the same spot for any length of time. You will have to take safety measures when you are working on it, and during the testing phase of the project.

Now I’m going to leave you to start working on this.” Jenkins said one last thing as he got up and collected his things to leave for the night. “Remember, how it is designed and applied is up to you. There is no budget ceiling for this part of the project and you must control all aspects of material acquisition including machine shop services. Any money to pay for this project must be paid for in cash through Mr. Brenant. Any questions?”

He turned to the attorney as if making sure that he had shared all of the information that he was expected to, giving Katrina the impression that he was far more involved in the project than an attorney would be normally.

The girls shook their heads in response, excited to get started.

“Good. Get to work. Since there are only three of you, you have your work cut out for you.”

On that note Jenkins moved towards the door. The girls were already discussing an idea. Dr. Jenkins had to clear his throat loudly to interrupt them. “Katrina, a word please?”

Katrina followed him out into the hall.

“Listen,” Jenkins began, “I know that you have been worrying about your test grades. Let me assure you that you passed all of your finals. I didn’t want you to have that hanging over your head while trying to work on this project.”

Katrina’s eyes lit up followed by a huge smile. “How did I do?”

“Let’s just say that you passed without flying colors.”

Katrina’s smile faltered.

Dr. Jenkins smiled more broadly. “No, no, they weren’t bad. There are a couple that are a tad lower than you’re used to, that’s all. It’s all good.”

“Oh, okay.” Katrina let out a deep breath as though she had been holding it for days.

“Now go in there and bang out the best offensive weapon you can build.” Jenkins put a hand on her shoulder when he said it.

Her eyes suddenly had too much water in them as her relief settled in. She wouldn’t have to retake any classes after all. “Thanks!”

Dr. Jenkins took his hand off her shoulder and watched her run back into his office, her long brown hair bobbing back and forth. “Make sure you lock the door.” he reminded them and waited until he heard the lock click before turning away. dhya��~WC��

Next Chapter: Chapter 4