Now that Ken Redmond had given up on fixing the main board for Shepardsport Pirate Radio and was having his electrical people rebuild it from the ground up, Spruance Del Curtin had some time again. Except he also had a bunch of catching up to do because of the time he’d lost.
The biggest problem was all that data for Dr. Doorne. This was something he couldn’t skate through, or make look done. Every data set needed individual attention, and it all had to be right. Let something slip through, and the heavy iron down at IT might well choke on it — especially if it was a malformed argument, or data incorrectly recorded so that it looked like a command. Of course everything was done on copies, not the original data, but it still wasted time on some of the most powerful — and expensive — computers up here.
So Sprue had decided to come up here early and get started just as soon as he could get into the Astronomy department. It meant having his breakfast sent up here, and he couldn’t hang out with the guys or hit on girls, but at least he was making reasonable headway on clearing the backlog. And even if his scrambled eggs were cold, he could reheat them in the department microwave.
But he was making good headway on the backlog, to the point the end was in sight. Not just the light at the end of the tunnel, which might be an oncoming train, but actually getting the last of those datasets ready for the next step in processing. With a little luck, he might well have them done before he needed to head off for his teaching responsibility.
He was so focused on his work that he almost didn’t notice Dr. Doorne coming into the office, never mind that she was talking on the phone to someone. At least she wasn’t one of those people who considered it an important courtesy for student assistants to rise and greet her when she entered the room. But then she was from somewhere out West — not California, maybe Arizona or Nevada? — and had a laid-back attitude about those kinds of formalities.
On the other hand, he was just as glad he didn’t have to interrupt her phone conversation by formally greeting her. Talk about a double-bind…
Better to just keep busy with the data. Although it was hard not to overhear tantalizing bits and pieces of halfalogue. Something about being in grade school “then,” and about always being ready to help, but not sure how useful something would be right now. Whatever it was, it sounded like it might be interesting, or it might be unutterably boring, depending on what the other person wanted.
Not that it mattered, since he wasn’t part of the conversation, and by lunar social conventions, he wasn’t even supposed to acknowledge the existence of the conversation in his presence. In any case, Dr. Doorne was winding it up.
“Good morning, Mr. Del Curtin.” Was that use of formal address a warning that she was aware he was listening in, even just a little bit? “You’re certainly here early.”
“There was a lot to catch up.” Sprue gestured toward the data on the monitor. “Especially since we’re going to have some extra work down at the station once the rebuilt main board is ready to go in, I wanted to get on top of it.”
“That’s a good idea, because we’ve got a new batch of data coming in, and I’m going to have you heading up a team three other student assistants.”
Wow, that sounds big. Sprue hoped his face didn’t betray his astonishment at so much responsibility, so fast. He was a Shep, and it was important to maintain that Shep cool. “Thanks, Dr. Doorne. I’m glad you have confidence in me.”