leaned forward, almost spilling his beer in his excitement.
“Simply two things. Firstly, we desperately need a small, fast Marauder-type ship; one that can be as effective in the atmosphere, as well as in space. Two, we need to test out the latest AI prototype that we have been developing in the lab and only Zeke is experienced enough with one to trial it for us.
There is a lot of new stuff being incorporated into the ship, and Zeke is the ideal person to test it out. He is, out of everyone on this island, the only one with sufficient knowledge of alien technology and also the most experienced in dealing with artificial intelligence. We desperately need his experience to iron out the bugs so that we can incorporate the new technology and Al’s into the big ships down there.”
“You're telling me why ‘we’ need this ship; you aren’t telling me why you think Zeke will want to be the pilot.”
“No, you’re right.” He thought for a moment, gathering his thoughts properly. “The simple answer to that is obvious when you think about it. Zeke wants or needs, to go back into space. He has no home here; he doesn’t even keep a spare shirt in his apartment.” He pointed off down in the direction of the apartment block, as if they could both see what he was referring to. “It's the same in Washington. It's as if he is waiting to be whisked off and doesn’t even want to carry a bag.” Osbourne finished leaning back with a sigh.
Garner thought about it for a moment. He had to agree. Osbourne had identified the problem and while he and Annie had been trying to help Zeke put down roots, Zeke had been avoiding doing anything of the sort. The lad was spot on and, if anyone deserved this, then Zeke was that person. He sighed. He had never won a single argument with Osbourne, his logic was unassailable. If he didn’t like the boy so much, he would be infuriated. As it was he just looked at him fondly. He thought of him as a son, while his real son stayed safely in Washington DC, living under his mother’s protection, Osbourne was here making a difference.
He made his decision. “Okay, Ossie, do what you need to do. Let's make it the best ship we can build and if you have any problems with anyone, send them to me.” Garner resigned himself to the fusillade of complaints he would receive from the different section heads. Still, he thought, it would be worth it if Zeke came back to them. Oh heck! wait until he told Annie, she would flip.
Osbourne grinned and leaped out of the chair, keen to be off now he had achieved his primary objective. He backed out of the room, smiling. “Thanks, Frank. Don’t tell him what I’m doing. Let's leave it as a surprise for him.” He left the office and the door closed behind him.
It was only after he left that Garner realised they hadn’t gone through Osbourne’s budget, and he had just agreed to sign a blank cheque. Damnation, he really must try and get a better grip on that generous streak of his where it applied to Osbourne, he should at least try and get some concessions out of him to appease the bean-counters He chuckled momentarily forgetting how tired he was.
He thought about the whole idea some more. It had been obvious to those who knew him, that Zeke had been reluctant to participate directly since Pod had gone. The more he considered the actions of Osbourne, the more he realised that, by chance, he might have provided Frank with a way of pulling Zeke back aboard the Space Island project.
Annie, who was aware of Zeke’s close call with Ferris and the ‘Crusher’ tractor field that nearly killed him, thought he was possibly feeling the strain of failure. In his mind, he was supposed to have stopped Ferris. Instead, he had armed him and set him on the world. Garner, as President and Commander In Chief, had been Ferris’ superior so if anyone should hold the blame, it should be him.
Now, Zeke felt that he could do more as a roving ambassador, so spent his time
“Simply two things. Firstly, we desperately need a small, fast Marauder-type ship; one that can be as effective in the atmosphere, as well as in space. Two, we need to test out the latest AI prototype that we have been developing in the lab and only Zeke is experienced enough with one to trial it for us.
There is a lot of new stuff being incorporated into the ship, and Zeke is the ideal person to test it out. He is, out of everyone on this island, the only one with sufficient knowledge of alien technology and also the most experienced in dealing with artificial intelligence. We desperately need his experience to iron out the bugs so that we can incorporate the new technology and Al’s into the big ships down there.”
“You're telling me why ‘we’ need this ship; you aren’t telling me why you think Zeke will want to be the pilot.”
“No, you’re right.” He thought for a moment, gathering his thoughts properly. “The simple answer to that is obvious when you think about it. Zeke wants or needs, to go back into space. He has no home here; he doesn’t even keep a spare shirt in his apartment.” He pointed off down in the direction of the apartment block, as if they could both see what he was referring to. “It's the same in Washington. It's as if he is waiting to be whisked off and doesn’t even want to carry a bag.” Osbourne finished leaning back with a sigh.
Garner thought about it for a moment. He had to agree. Osbourne had identified the problem and while he and Annie had been trying to help Zeke put down roots, Zeke had been avoiding doing anything of the sort. The lad was spot on and, if anyone deserved this, then Zeke was that person. He sighed. He had never won a single argument with Osbourne, his logic was unassailable. If he didn’t like the boy so much, he would be infuriated. As it was he just looked at him fondly. He thought of him as a son, while his real son stayed safely in Washington DC, living under his mother’s protection, Osbourne was here making a difference.
He made his decision. “Okay, Ossie, do what you need to do. Let's make it the best ship we can build and if you have any problems with anyone, send them to me.” Garner resigned himself to the fusillade of complaints he would receive from the different section heads. Still, he thought, it would be worth it if Zeke came back to them. Oh heck! wait until he told Annie, she would flip.
Osbourne grinned and leaped out of the chair, keen to be off now he had achieved his primary objective. He backed out of the room, smiling. “Thanks, Frank. Don’t tell him what I’m doing. Let's leave it as a surprise for him.” He left the office and the door closed behind him.
It was only after he left that Garner realised they hadn’t gone through Osbourne’s budget, and he had just agreed to sign a blank cheque. Damnation, he really must try and get a better grip on that generous streak of his where it applied to Osbourne, he should at least try and get some concessions out of him to appease the bean-counters He chuckled momentarily forgetting how tired he was.
He thought about the whole idea some more. It had been obvious to those who knew him, that Zeke had been reluctant to participate directly since Pod had gone. The more he considered the actions of Osbourne, the more he realised that, by chance, he might have provided Frank with a way of pulling Zeke back aboard the Space Island project.
Annie, who was aware of Zeke’s close call with Ferris and the ‘Crusher’ tractor field that nearly killed him, thought he was possibly feeling the strain of failure. In his mind, he was supposed to have stopped Ferris. Instead, he had armed him and set him on the world. Garner, as President and Commander In Chief, had been Ferris’ superior so if anyone should hold the blame, it should be him.
Now, Zeke felt that he could do more as a roving ambassador, so spent his time
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