After the group below had dispersed, Caitlin sat up and turned to her two friends. "Well, that was certainly illuminating," she told them, somewhat sarcastically. "I think my head's going to explode."
"I don't care about that," sniffed Tania plaintively. "You heard what they said about Kevin!"
"That doesn't mean anything," Caitlin insisted. "They didn't terminate him, just his experiment. They might have let him go."
"God, I hope you're right," Tania managed through barely stifled tears.
"Anyway, I don't think I really understood half of what they said," Caitlin admitted.
"Maybe Randi can explain it," Tania suggested, glad to get her mind off Kevin's potential fate. "Well, Randi, did you have any classes in miniaturization dynamics out there on the East Coast?"
Randi laughed uncomfortably. "No, of course not, but I think I kind of understood, a little."
"All I got was they can't run normal engines or electrical appliances for some reason or other," Caitlin said. "That explains some things, like why Kevin's bug was so short-ranged, and why they said it was so expensive. But, it doesn't tell us anything more about their plans. Why is it such a big deal to be able to shrink a car and drive it around?"
"Who knows?" Tania replied. "Who cares? That doesn't get us any closer to getting back to normal size."
"Maybe it does," said Caitlin. "That British guy is going to have to restore that car back to normal eventually. If we follow him around, he'll lead us right to the machine."
"Hey, didn't he just go back to--?" Randi began.
"He sure did," Caitlin interrupted her hastily. "Quick, let's get back there!"
The trip back didn't take nearly as long as the one to the boardroom. They knew the route now, and the holes they needed to pass through were already there. It took only about five minutes to make the journey, mostly due to all the climbing required over the crossbars. They had to stop once to rest and catch their breath, but not for very long.
In due course they reached the final hole and slipped through. They listened, but heard nothing in the room below. At first they thought perhaps the two men had taken their private meeting elsewhere, but then they distinctly heard the sound of someone moving around. A creaking sound suggested that whoever was there was leaning back in the office chair.
The three women quietly crept along the edge of the wooden support beam, avoiding the tiles so as to make no noise whatsoever. As they were about halfway across the room, the door opened below them.
"Okay, I'm here," said the voice with the light British accent. "Sorry about that, I had to use the loo. What did you want to see me about?"
"Well, first of all, I wanted to apologize about the meeting," the director went on. "I should have let you do the demonstration right away."
Caitlin kept moving and the others followed. As the men below spoke, the three girls went over to the hole they had previously widened near the network cable. From here, she could see the entire office, but unfortunately only one of them could watch at a time. The others had to be content to simply listen.
The director was sitting down, leaning back comfortably, while Tom Evans was standing with his arms crossed, looking mildly upset. He was holding a soft drink can in one hand, another reason why the meeting below had not started sooner, fortunately for the three eavesdroppers.
"That's okay, no harm done," Tom said, though his body language spoke otherwise. "I would have had to explain about the weak batteries straightaway, so as not to get anyone's hopes up."
"Just the same, I didn't mean to make you look foolish. But that's not why I asked you to come in here. I wanted to give you some bad news about the vehicle project."
"Oh, bugger, they're not canceling it, are they?" He seemed agitated. "Come on, John! We're so close on this!"
"I know, but things are bad right now," the director explained. "We lost Theta, and the other three disappearing has made all of us at the field office look like idiots. Mike Bellingham has already been transferred, and while that technically leaves me in charge, it won't last."
"You don't seem surprised," Tom told him.
"I've made my feelings known about this project for a while now. While I don't agree with some of the things that have been done, I've tried to live up to the spirit of the program. I think Lambda, Iota and Kappa were my last hurrah in any case."
"You aren't retiring, are you?" Tom asked, sounding concerned.
"No, but I'm going to ask for a transfer to DC. I think I can do a lot more for the project out there. It's strange, though. I had a lot of hope for Lambda and the other two. You read my last memo before they disappeared, and saw my latest proposal. In many ways their escaping only proved me right. I just wish I knew what happened to them. I never thought they would run away again after the incident with Ron Collins."
Tom looked thoughtful. "You don't think he has them again, do you? Could he have found a way to catch them?"
"No, he's not that good," the director told him. "Besides, we have him under surveillance. He came back to his apartment a few hours after we broke in, packed up some things and took off like a scared rabbit. Last I heard, he was hiding out somewhere in San Diego."
Tom laughed. "Well, at least we know that much. Where do you think the birds flew to?"
John was silent for a moment. Then he said, "I have a theory. Theta told me some things I didn't mention to the rest of the group, because I want to do some additional research first. You can keep that to yourself, please."
"Sure, anything you say," Tom agreed with a shrug.
"Anyway, forgetting that for a moment, we need to get back to the miniaturized vehicle project. Because of all the things that have happened this week, we're under tremendous pressure to make some kind of progress elsewhere. The department heads, especially Krawczyk, are excited about the vehicle, but we need a working prototype quickly."
"How quickly?"
"End of next week."
Tom was aghast. "It can't be done! There are too many technical issues we still have to--"
The director raised a hand. "These are not orders from me," he said calmly. "They aren't even orders, really. Think of it more as a friendly suggestion."
The younger man paced around the room for a moment, then lifted up the SUV in his hand and seemed to study it carefully. "I get what you're saying," he said after a moment, "but I can't see how to do it. We'd have to work twenty-four-hour shifts and all through the weekend, and even that may not do it. We'd need some kind of breakthrough to pull it off."
"Don't look at me," the director said. "This didn't come from me, Tom. It's just a friendly observation. You can do with it what you will."
The dark-haired man turned the car over in his hands, then finally set it down on top of a file cabinet and stared at it for a long time. Then he gave a long, protracted sigh. "I've been thinking of a couple of radical ideas," he said at last. "I'd have to virtually rip out the entire battery pack and put in a new system, but I think I could have a design spec draft by the weekend. I have no idea if it'd work, though. It's just a theory."
"I'd love to hear about it," the director said, "but can we at least go get some coffee? I'm getting old and it's hard to stay awake this late in the day, especially after a big meeting."
Tom laughed politely, but his mood did not seem to brighten. "All right," he said, "I'll talk on the way."
The director stood up and ushered the taller man out of the room. As the door slammed shut, they started talking again, but their words quickly faded down the hallway.
"Look!" Caitlin exclaimed the moment they were out of the room, pushing them over to the hole she'd been looking through. "See what I mean? Now's our chance!"
Tania and Randi looked at her strangely. "For what?" they asked, obviously confused.
"Come on, don't you see it, there on top of the file cabinet? Now's our chance to get in that car!"