Chapter 4

Days started to turn into weeks. Daily meetings churned out many great ideas and some that were less so. Over time the slew of ideas began to turn into something concrete. Parts began to arrive from the junk yards and machine shops.

The junk yard items were cleaned and repaired. They were the simplistic parts that didn’t need to be redesigned:  Wheels and strut systems, brake housings, a drive shaft, a Cadillac frame with a transmission that matched, a steering assembly and dashboard components.

Kristin got pulled out of the special team to fill in on the power train team. One of the interns had needed to fly home due to a death in the family and would not be returning in time to keep that part of the project on schedule. Dr. Jenkins had decided that Kristin would be the best fit for that team and that it would not leave her enough time to invest on the laser’s design. Katrina and Silvia knew that it would increase their workload, but they were more worried that if anyone else dropped out then they would lose their chance to work on the weapon system.

Other team members quickly went to work on designing the sub-unibody that would accept the special body kit that was to be delivered. When that epoxy structured body arrived it had to mate with an aluminum underside which would allow all the other components to fit inside. A lot of welding was required to build the sub-unibody.

When all these components were done, two days before the scheduled delivery of the epoxy skin, the vehicle looked more like a shallow boat with wheels than anything else. It had no engine or any of the required computer components that would allow the driver to operate the vehicle. But that didn’t stop each and every intern from siting inside and holding the steering wheel for a photo.

When Katrina and Silvia took their turns behind the wheel they were also taking the time to study how their offensive weapon could connect to the body.

For some reason Silvio Brenant insisted on standing near enough to the car to be seen in all of the students’ souvenir photos. It gave Silvia the feeling that he was responsible for more than just security, but no other explanation came to mind.

One day when Katrina and Silvia were cloistered away working out the final designs for connecting the ‘offensive device’ to the racecar, Silvia stopped what she was doing to ask a question. “Have you noticed that there are two seats in the racecar? We always only talk about the driver and his job but why would they have designed it with a second seat if they didn’t intend for there to be a passenger?”

“I don’t know. It’s not important to me.” Katrina paused, giving the idea some thought, “Maybe the seat is for a technician to sit in while they perform diagnostics and they will take it out later when they finish the cage.”

Silvia shook her head. “No I think there’s going to be a passenger. Our interface may be Bluetooth connected but we had to design the weapon system to be installed on the passenger side of the car. I’m getting the impression that someone other than the driver will have to operate the weapon. Think about it, the driver can’t drive and try to work the laser at the same time. There’s too much going on at the all at once for him to handle both.”

Katrina pondered for a moment. “Well I hope they are well trained on what we’ve designed or it would have been a tremendous waste of our time to build it in the first place.”

Silvia pointed her finger at Katrina. “Exactly! What if one of us is supposed to be the rider?”

Katrina’s mouth dropped open, suddenly understanding some of what Dr. Jenkins had said in the past. “You think so?” She was picturing the design for the control panel that had been on the schematic that they had been given as a template, a control panel that was supposed to be cut into the passenger side of the dashboard. How had she not realized that before now?

Silvia nodded her head. “What if it’s just one more secret that they haven’t let anyone in on yet? I don’t think I would want to do it. I’m not into racing. It’s too dangerous.”

Katrina opened her eyes wide at the prospect. “I think it would be great. Think about it, go out and actually be part of the race team? It would be fun. And no one would die. The point of the race is to prove the technology of the car, not crash them. The worst that can happen is that our car would get disabled and we’d be out of the race.”

Katrina thought back to when she had sat in the driver’s seat checking out the car. It sat pretty low and so did the passenger seat. She would have no problem being able to use the laser but Silvia was so much shorter than she was. She would need a box to sit on just to have the viewing capability to operate the weapon. That was the most important part of their design. The operator had to be able to see where the extension arm would potentially reach out to another car and set off the laser. Suddenly Katrina was getting very excited about the prospect that she might be the one chosen.

They both went back to work without much more consideration as to who might be asked to operate the laser. There was so much still to be done. They were going to be hard pressed to finish on time as it was.

Thirteen days before the race, after the epoxy body was fitted down into the aluminum cradle to complete the fuselage, there was a meeting of all of the teams. Silvia and Katrina sat next to each other. When Dillon Trackson showed up he plopped himself next to Katrina. He looked exhausted but managed a smile for her, ignoring Silvia altogether. Silvia made a grunt at his rudeness. Katrina elbowed her. 

Dr. Jenkins cleared his throat to get everyone’s attention and began, “I have the pleasure of stating that our project is running not only slightly behind schedule but also way over budget. I have spoken with the investor and he assures us that he will maintain the project’s funding until the end. But we still have a lot of work ahead of us. All of you need to plan on some all-nighters until we are back on track. The car must be finished when the truck arrives. The good news is, the pizza is on us.”

Many groans floated over to him. Jenkins smiled. “This is the critical moment of this project. Every project that you will encounter in your future will have the same benchmarks that we have seen through our trials on this car, a beginning, a middle, and the crunch. We are beginning the crunch phase as of today. I want all of you to bring whatever you might pack for a camping trip when you come in tomorrow morning. After today, we will be living here until this car is loaded onto the truck. Do I make myself clear?”

Myriad side conversations began abruptly in response.

“Quiet!” Jenkins shouted.

The crowd fell silent.

“Now to work. Time is of the essence. The power plant complete but we have to finish the computer interface and programing plus all of the wiring still needs to be installed. The teams that are finished with their original assignments will now be part of the engine team. And as of today a secret part of our project will come out into the open. Katrina and Silvia, please stand.”

Both girls’ eyes opened wide. They hadn’t expected this kind of focus all of a sudden.

“Come on, stand up. We haven’t got all day, there’s work to do.” Jenkins said again, somewhat short tempered.

Katrina and Silvia both stood slowly. “These two girls were chosen to design and build a device that will disable other racecars once it is positioned properly. Every car in the race will have one of these. We hope that these brilliant women designed the most effective version so that our driver will be able to bring our car through the finish line.”

Clapping began to ring out among all the other interns. Jenkins continued on, not waiting the customary amount of time for them to finish.

The girls sat quickly, a little red faced. They hadn’t had any warning that their ‘secret team’ would not be a secret anymore.

“I have decided that the members of the wheel team, who have now completed their project will be reallocated as well. Dillon Trackson and John Killbreth will join the defensive weapon design team. The remainder of the wheel team will join the wiring group. Any questions?”

Many heads turned to their fellow interns, still taking in all that had just transpired. Dillon focused only on Katrina. Katrina didn’t know what to make of his attention but Silvia was instantly jealous. Katrina didn’t notice Silvia’s reaction because Kristin had caught her eye. The other girl looked more than a little disheartened that she hadn’t been included in their team. Katrina’s expression became instantly apologetic, she knew how she would have felt if she had been the one chosen as a replacement on the power train team.

Jenkins had one more announcement. “Alright, one last item to cover.” He looked over to Brenant and waited for his nod of approval before continuing. “On the last day, before the truck is to arrive and take our car to the race, we are going to announce which member of the team will accompany the driver during the race.”

The entire group of interns burst into discussions about the prospect of being chosen. Silvia turned back to Katrina and tapped her on the shoulder. “See, I told you that the second seat was for a rider.”

“Yeah, but it won’t be one of us. Vincent Frodes is the team leader, he’ll get it. He’s on the engine team and he worked the closest with Dr. Jenkins. You’ll see. He’s the one to watch for.”

Silvia shook her head, “I don’t think so. I think it has to be one of us.”

Katrina perked up. “I would love to be on the road but I really doubt that either of us has a chance at it.”

Silvia’s eyes turned back to the podium where Dr. Jenkins stood answering questions. Katrina’s denigration of their own capabilities grated on her despite the fact that she didn’t really want to be chosen as the passenger. Anger was bubbling just under her skin. She turned back to Katrina to respond but once again Katrina was in the middle of an animated conversation with Dillon. They were completely ignoring her, again. Somehow she was always the one who was forgotten.

Dr. Jenkins clapped his hand to gain everyone’s attention. “It’s time to get to work. Remember, I will choose the lucky individual on the last day of the project, so work hard and maybe you’ll do more than just build the car, maybe you’ll be helping the driver win this race.”

Next Chapter: Chapter 5