Near Future 1: Awakening (7 page)

All of this could have resulted in the network of mass concentrations that would become the supermassive black holes that eventually became the centers of the galaxies, and all arranged in a network of filaments, hubs and voids that with the billions of years of expansion now defined the universe. Scientists had been able to determine that the supermassive black holes, and hence their galaxies, aligned themselves within their filaments, even though they were separated by huge distances. So they had to already be aligned when they came into existence. It was all so huge that to picture it boggled the mind, and even on the smaller scale of the galaxies, the structure could be seen and mapped out. Beautiful structures in many cases. Miranda's theory fit this network very well, since the structure in place in the fabric of subspace at the point of expansion would have led to the structure currently seen. To her it was the fingerprint of God.

Miranda had an idea how her theory could be tested, but to do it would take a major lab such as the one at Space Tech Research or maybe the smaller version of their lab at the Space Academy. She believed that it could be done with existing components and detection equipment. However, it would take a heck of a control system to manage it safely, something she had no idea how she would go about writing. A computer guru she wasn't. Maybe she could get someone to work with her on it. She bet Zeke could have done it. It was really too bad that she didn't expect to see him again.

Miranda enjoyed her research time, but she continued to be held back by her headaches. One was so bad that Doctor Ted had taken her VR access away. Somehow he was able to determine her level of exertion from looking at the monitoring equipment. Only after she was completely stable had he given her access back, and he made her promise that she wouldn't let them get so bad again. After that, any time she felt she was close to starting a headache, she would stop what she was doing and concentrate on slowing her brain down. And listen to Julie's music, the music she had fallen in love with, that really seemed to help her. She knew the doctor could see what was happening from his monitoring devices, but she also knew he saw how hard she was trying. Gradually the episodes got further and further apart.

#

At the end of the week, the therapist conducted Miranda's therapy follow-up review. He had her meet him in his small office, sitting down to talk with her, and pulling her chart up on his VR. Smiling, he told her, "Miss Summerlin, you have done very well, and I believe you are ready for your 'graduation' from therapy. I have been truly impressed with your level of progress." He looked at her thoughtfully for a moment, then went on, "I believe that you have made the most progress of anyone I have ever seen in such a short amount of time."

He looked over her chart one more time. Finally he stood, "You may still have a bit of a limp, but I am proclaiming you crutch free, although I do want you to take it easy for the next couple of weeks, and you need to keep doing your exercises." Smiling, Miranda handed him her crutches. She didn't mention that several times she had found herself walking around her hospital room without them.

"Thank you for all your help," she told him as she reached the door.

"That's why we are here," he said. "But I'm glad we could help you."

Miranda still had to be returned to her room in a wheelchair, but she felt a little bit of happiness. The therapy had been hard, but now it was paying off. If she only had something to do with her newfound freedom.

Andrea came by a little later. She had obviously heard the results from her physical therapy and she was all smiles. "So you have 'graduated' from your therapy. That's awesome! That means we have to celebrate, but first we will have to start working on the next steps for you. I have asked Doctor Ted to come down here so we can talk about what you can do next."

Miranda looked up quickly. "Thank you. I am really tired of being stuck here. Besides not have my past memories, not having any idea about even the very near future is very frustrating. I don't have a clue what I am going to do when I leave here and how I am going to make it on my own."

"Well, we're going to help with that," Doctor Ted said as he came in the door. "Assuming you are physically and emotionally up to it, we have thought about setting you up to attend one of the local universities. I know you don't remember, but based on your past scores you should do well. A school with a somewhat controlled environment might be the best way to transition you from the hospital to the outside world."

Andrea chimed in. "If we can get you in a local school, I will be able to visit you too. If you would be interested in that, I would like to do it.

Miranda immediately responded. "Yes and yes. I have already been thinking about the local schools. I have been thinking about a couple of them, but I don't see how I could be able to afford it. Even with the trust fund, there is no way I could cover tuition, room and board."

"I am going to see about getting you a scholarship," Doctor Ted said. "You will first have to take the college entrance exams. I know all the members of the local scholarship boards, and if you do as well as I think you will based on all your test results to date, they will be fighting over you! And because I can get you past all the red tape, it won't take months like most applications would."

Miranda didn't know what to think about everything they were telling her, but she nodded and said, "Set me up for the exam. I'm not sure about the rest of that, but I will do my best. And thank you, both of you, for taking such good care of me."

#

For her celebration, Andrea showed up with a wheelchair, pushing her down to the food court in the public area of the hospital. She bought her pizza slices from the little Italian restaurant there. It was hot and to Miranda, it was great; much better than the hospital food she had been getting before that. "Wow!" she said. "This is awesome. Thanks again for all that you have done for me."

Andrea just smiled. "I am glad to do it. You are a very special person, and you just need a little help right now. I believe that in the last couple of weeks we have become good friends, and this is the kind of thing that friends do for each other. I know if the positions were reversed, you would do the same for me."

Miranda had been wanting to ask Andrea about something. She thought that she had recognized her from the pictures she had found of Julie Randolph's family. She did not want to pry, but she had to ask. "I want to ask you a question. I know it is a rather personal question. Are you the Andrea that worked for the family of Doctor Randolph from Space Tech? I know it's not fair to ask you that question, but I just have to know. It's something in here," pointing to her head, "that I can't get out of my mind."

Andrea stared at her for a minute. Finally, she reached a decision. "Yes. I don't talk about it much. I even changed my hairstyle and color. I can't believe that you recognized me. That was a very sad time for me."

"Ok, I can understand how you would feel that way. I wanted to know if you know Julie, and what kind of person she was before her injury. I don't know how to explain it, but I feel strong feelings when I look at her pictures. And to think she is still in a coma like I was only a few days ago."

"Yes, I knew Julie. We were rather close friends like you and I have become. She is a very special person, very much like you. She is very pretty, smart and she always seemed to know exactly what she wanted to do. And she takes every obstacle as a challenge to be overcome.

"Doctor Sam Randolph had been setting up the Space Academy at least partly for Julie. She had planned to go there with the opening of the program. She was going to take advanced classes, and I know that she would have excelled at that just as she did at everything else she attempted."

"Tell me a story about her. Something she did that you remember."

Andrea thought for a minute and then she began. "I know you had to have read about Julie playing the violin. Her solo performance right before the attack went ultra-viral over VR." Miranda nodded. She really loved that music.
 

Andrea smiled. "What I bet you didn't know, was that she took gymnastics and was quite good at it, although she never competed. Her father, Doctor Sam Randolph, has a doctorate in hard science, unlike his brother, who has a medical degree. So one time he was studying the varying effects of simulated gravity by using the spin of the Space Tech Station. He had set up experiments along the length of a maintenance shaft that went from the center of the station to the edge. The distance from the center of the station determined the amount of simulated gravity. He had to travel the length of the shaft with an electronic reader to collect the data from all of the test stations. He had to be within two feet of the station for the reader to register. He complained about the time it took to read them.

"Julie was up on the station that day and heard him. She was probably fourteen or fifteen at that time. She bet him that she could read them all in two minutes or less. Of course, he thought she was crazy, and took her bet, so sure it was an easy bet. She took the electronic reader and set up a trampoline at the end with the highest gravity effect. It was only about one-fourth earth gravity, the most they could get back then on the station. She bounced lightly on the trampoline a couple of times and then made a big jump up into the shaft. At each station she did a gymnastic spin or flip, keeping the reader close to the station long enough to register the reading. Because the gravity was dropping with each station she had barely enough momentum to read all the stations in the one jump, coming to a gentle stop at the end of the shaft. It took a little over 90 seconds. That's when we all learned 'Never make a bet against that girl.' It's probably on video somewhere at Space Tech, although it is likely flagged confidential."

"Thank you. You are a good storyteller. I can almost picture her doing that. It had to be hilarious seeing her dad's expression when she completed the jump."

"Julie told me later that she was afraid she was going to run out of momentum before she finished, and that she used everything she had learned in gymnastics to be able to finish the run."

"I don't know why I feel so strongly about her," Miranda said. "I do know that Julie and I are about the same age and I guess we have this in common." Miranda pointed to her head.

"Yes," Andrea said with tears in her eyes, "You are very close to her in age and there are other things about the two of you that make me think of her when I am with you."

"I'm sorry," Miranda sighed. "It was something I had to know. I didn't mean to make you sad. It is just so frustrating to have things in my head and not know why they are there."

"It's ok. I am glad that we are able to be friends. Being here with you has already brought back a lot of those feelings anyway. Please, if you ever need to talk, call me any time, night or day."

They sat there quietly for a few minutes and then Andrea said, "I guess I better get you back before they come looking for us." She rose, coming around to get the wheelchair.

"Thank you again for doing this. It was indeed a big celebration for me to get out of there for a little while. Plus, I really enjoyed the company." Miranda placed her hand on Andrea's arm, and she could tell Andrea was no longer feeling so sad. She was really a good friend to her.

#

Doctor Ted had arranged for Miranda to take the college admission exam the next Monday morning, scheduling a room for half a day. To Miranda, the exam seemed way too easy, and she finished it in less than two hours. She would have actually finished it sooner, but she had to stop and slow down a couple of times to rest her head. She found that she could hear her music without actually playing it if she concentrated on it while she rested. When she finished, she was somewhat worried that maybe she was missing something and should still be working on the test, but she had no idea what else she could do.

Miranda couldn't resist asking the tester scoring her exam about her score, but he refused to tell her, mumbling something to the effect that she would have to wait until It came from official channels. She thought she heard him whisper "Wow" under his breath, but she figured it was probably her imagination.

As soon as he got her test results, Ted set up another VR meeting with Sam and they discussed Miranda's rehab and testing results. This time they made sure the assistant was unable to listen.

"It's time," Ted said. "She took the admissions exam and she made the highest score ever recorded. Just in case, since we figured it would be challenged, we had the testing company check it twice. I've already arranged for her to get the scholarship at the Space Academy as we planned. She will be able to start at the beginning of the next term, which actually starts next week."

"I just don't know," Sam objected. "I'm afraid she might get too much attention if she went off to school. We are not ready for that yet." He visibly paled at the prospect.

"Well, I guess it's my turn to be insistent that we stick to the plan. We both know that she has to go to school somewhere soon. She's already going stir crazy in the hospital. Our plan is sound, and it is by far the best choice. The school will be the last place that her potential enemies will look and it's close to where I am working. I believe that I will be able to protect her as long as I can convince her to keep a low profile. That's not something that she's very good at, as we both very well know, but it is our best plan. The other good thing is that she won't need to touch the trust fund for anything other than her basic expenses, so we can keep the money trail hidden.

"I will check on her at least once a week under the guise of a medical checkup, but with Andrea on board, we will be able to help keep an even better eye on her. Andrea is young enough that she can visit her at school and not look totally out of place."

Sam finally held up his hands. "You're right, I just don't want anything else to happen to her. I was hoping we would be rid of all the rats by now. Set it all up and take care of her, something I know you will give your very best."