The Universe Builders: Bernie and the Putty (31 page)

Ezrah called Suzie into his office. He knew she would be upset, but there was no point in putting it off.

Suzie came in with the pot of coffee, filled Ezra’s’ cup, and returned the coffee pot before sitting down.

“What’s up?”

“Suzie, I just received a termination recommendation for Bernie. Shemal says he’s given Bernie every opportunity to prove himself, but he doesn’t believe Bernie is the kind of employee we’re looking for. I know he’s your friend. I’m sorry to have to tell you this, but I’m going to approve the termination.”

“Oh, no! This isn’t fair, Ezrah,” Suzie said as her shimmer displayed colors and patterns he’d never seen before. “Bernie’s work has been sabotaged from the beginning.”

“What are you talking about?” Ezrah asked, more concerned with calming her down than what she had to say.

“Do you know Billy?”

“Yes. We hired him last year. I’ve seen excellent reports on him.” Ezrah thought for a moment before asking, “He and Bernie had the big fight, right?”

“Yes. Back in school, Billy always picked on him, and he’s doing the same thing now. He has been sabotaging Bernie’s universe.”

“That doesn’t make sense, Suzie. If Bernie had a problem, he would just go to Shemal and tell him. I’m sure Shemal would have looked into it.”

“No, he wouldn’t. Billy is Shemal’s nephew. I’ve seen the good reports Shemal has written about Billy. He would never believe Bernie over Billy,” she said. “I told Bernie not to tell Shemal, because I knew Shemal wouldn’t believe him.”

“You shouldn’t have done that, Suzie,” said Ezrah as his own shimmer flickered. “Bernie should have gone to Shemal right away so it could be straightened out. Shemal might have solved the problem. Or we might have intervened and transferred Bernie to another department. It’s a bit late for that now.”

“Oh, Ezrah. Please don’t let this happen. Bernie is a great employee. He’s making a great universe in spite of what Billy’s done.” Ezrah pretended not to notice the teardrop that fell on the corner of his desk.

“How can you say that, Suzie? Shemal has seen his universe, and he says it’s the worst thing he’s ever seen.”

“Please, Ezrah, Bernie just needs more time. Give him a chance to show what he can do.”

“I don’t know, Suzie.”

Ezrah was struggling. On one hand, he wanted to support Shemal, who was in the best position to evaluate Bernie’s work. Normally, there wouldn’t be any question about accepting his recommendation. On the other hand, Suzie—from his own department—talked Bernie out of having his claims of sabotage investigated. That wasn’t good. She should have told Bernie to report the problem so it could be properly investigated. She’d given him very bad advice. Was it fair to punish Bernie for doing the wrong thing? This cut into Ezrah’s sense of ethics and fairness. He wasn’t sure what to do.

It was Suzie who tipped the scales when she said, “What if he won a Universe Award? Could he stay then?”

“Well, of course, but I don’t see how that can happen.”

“We can nominate anyone we want. The Committee dropped off the nomination forms yesterday. I’ll nominate Bernie. If he wins, he stays. Okay?” Suzie begged.

Ezrah shook his head and said, “Suzie, I don’t like any of this. I think Bernie should go to Shemal and tell him whatever he thinks Billy has done. If Shemal finds Billy has sabotaged his work, he’ll be reprimanded, and Bernie will be re-evaluated.”

“Answer me honestly, Ezrah. You know Shemal, and you’ve seen his evaluations of Billy. You also know how quick Shemal is to fire people. Do you believe Bernie will get a fair review here?”

Ezrah pondered her question. “Probably not. Too much time has gone by. He should have reported it when it first started happening,” Ezrah admitted.

“Then, please, give Bernie a chance to save his job by winning an award. You can tell Shemal Bernie has been nominated, and you want to delay any termination decision until the Committee has a chance to see his work.”

Ezrah avoided looking at her. It was bad enough imagining the tears in her eyes without having to look at them.

“Well…” Ezrah began, although the argument was over. Suzie would get her way, and Bernie would get a second chance.

Use your time well, Bernie
, he thought.

Gee, It’s Hot

“Gondal, we need to talk,” Nottag, the minister of building projects, said from the doorway to Gondal’s office.

“Certainly. Come in,” Gondal said as he gestured to a seat.

“It’s the heat. No one remembers anything like it. I’m afraid it’s the beginning of another catastrophe.”

“Have you sketched out any scenarios?”

“There is only one scenario. Not to be overly dramatic, but there’s only so much heat we can take. We’re getting reports from several project sites of people collapsing. Others are having respiratory problems. The heat is too much for them.”

Gondal started to ask which projects, but with all of the rebuilding going on, they were too numerous to mention. Even the Senate building had suffered damage.

“What action have you taken?”

“We changed the work schedule,” said Nottag. “We’ve got people coming in before dawn, and we’re sending them home before noon. We have a second shift coming in the late afternoon and working until after dark. That lets them avoid the heat of the day—”

Gondal had stopped listening. He didn’t move. He didn’t blink. He couldn’t. His brain had stopped the moment he grasped the implications of Nottag’s statement. The people were succumbing to the heat at mid-day, when the Sun was at its height. If this was true, then everything was lost. How could they survive if the danger came from the Sun itself? They were doomed.

“Leader, are you okay?” Nottag asked. Nottag’s hand was on Gondal’s shoulder, shaking him gently.

Gondal saw his minister’s concerned expression. Instinctively, he hid his fear. He had to remain strong, even among his Council of Ministers. They could not see their Leader filled with doubt. So he did what he always did, and reached down inside himself for still more energy, though he felt his fingers scrape the near-empty bottom. He calmed his breathing as he collected his thoughts.

“Thank you for your report, Nottag. I agree with your action to change the schedule. Will you please send Minister Tonst and Minister Branton to me? I have a matter to discuss with them.”

“Yes, Leader.” Nottag left in search of the ministers.

* * *

As Gondal waited for Tonst, his minister of temple affairs, and Branton, his minister of science, he considered his options. He needed answers. Lately, answers from the Temple had not been helpful. Worse, the Temple’s credibility had been damaged by recent events. Take the night sun, for example. The Temple claimed it was a gift from the Sun, but it had become associated with all the troubles that had happened since it arrived. Some claimed the night sun itself was the cause of their problems.

The summoned ministers arrived within minutes of each other. Branton was drenched with perspiration. The two ministers had once been friends, and perhaps could be again, but for now, their ministries put a great strain on their friendship. Some said it was because religion and science didn’t always agree.

Gondal had appointed both men to their positions. Zardok had endorsed Tonst for the minister of temple affairs position, and since Tonst was well qualified, Gondal had accepted his recommendation. Branton’s experience came from having taught in one of Alcandor’s learning centers before the lord left to pursue his own studies. He and Alcandor had maintained a good relationship over the years, which made Branton a good choice for minister of science.

“Ministers, please be seated,” said Gondal as he gestured to two empty chairs. “I want to know what you can tell me about this oppressive heat. People are experiencing serious health problems, and I want to get ahead of this before it becomes our next crisis.”

“I made an inquiry to the Temple to see if they had any thoughts on it,” said Tonst. “The Inner Council is working on this very question and will inform us as soon as they finish their analysis.”

“And you, Branton?” Gondal asked, hoping for a better answer.

“I just got back from meeting with Alcandor. He’s also working on the same question.”

“And what did he say?”

“He’s been taking measurements for several days,” said Branton. “He said the heat is definitely increasing daily. He said the plants are affected and some, especially the fruits, may be harmed or killed if the heat continues.”

“Does he know the source of this heat?” Gondal asked, although he dreaded the answer.

“He said he didn’t want to speculate because he’s still considering various theories. It wasn’t easy, but I got him to tell me some of his theories. After he did, I understand why he doesn’t want to discuss them. I promised him I wouldn’t say anything until he completes his research.”

Gondal’s patience, worn thin by months of desperation and uncertainty, exploded, “Branton, I want answers! If Alcandor has some, I want to hear them now!”

Branton, chastised by Gondal’s anger, promptly said, “He claims the most obvious heat source is the Sun. He showed me his experiments. He believes the Sun has grown slightly larger than it was just a few days ago. It’s not enough to detect without instruments, but Alcandor says the bigger Sun is giving more heat and more light than before.”

“That’s preposterous! Everyone knows the Sun is unchanging. It’s a Universal Truth,” Tonst exclaimed.

Gondal’s full attention was on Branton as he asked, “Does he know why this is happening or what we can do about it?”

“No. Right now he’s trying to understand what happened. He thinks if we understood it, maybe we could fix it.”

“How can you even say such things?” exclaimed Tonst, who couldn’t believe what he was hearing. “You talk about ‘fixing’ the Sun? That’s blasphemy! It’s the Sun that protects us, not the other way around!”

“Minister Tonst,” said Gondal. “There are times when we must not be afraid to ask any question or seek any answer. We’re responsible for too many lives. Anything less is dereliction of our duty.”

Gondal was disappointed. Meeting with the ministers had yielded no solutions. He had to force things along.

“Minister Tonst, please inform Speaker Zardok his presence is urgently requested at a meeting of the full Senate tomorrow afternoon. We await his explanation of this heat and any recommendations he may have to reduce the damaging effects,” Gondal directed.

“Minister Branton, you will give Lord Alcandor the same message,” Gondal said.

Both ministers were surprised. It was Tonst who said, “Leader, I may not be able to get Speaker Zardok to attend if he knows Lord Alcandor will be present. You know there is some animosity between these two men.”

“Then tell Zardok I will greatly regret his inability to appear, but the meeting will be held. We will listen instead to Alcandor’s thoughts on this urgent matter,” Gondal retorted.

Gondal knew forcing Zardok to this meeting would come with a price. But it would be nothing compared with the growing heat outside.

The Deal

Bernie had been glum since Shemal’s last inspection. He’d told Lenny and Suzie it had not gone well. They’d been supportive and tried to keep his spirits up, but it wasn’t easy.

Today, when he sat down at the lunch table, he could see something was wrong. Bernie, though untrained in shimmers, knew they were both upset.

“What’s wrong?” Bernie wanted to know.

“I’m really sorry, Bernie,” Lenny said as he put his hand on Bernie’s arm.

“There’s no easy way to say it,” said Suzie. “Shemal recommended your termination. But—”

Bernie interrupted, “Oh, no… I was afraid of that…” Bernie said as his words trailed off, swallowed by the silence of impotent frustration.

His impotence didn’t include an angry cloud that pushed a stack of dirty lunch trays onto the floor, eliciting yells from several gods who now sported splashes of pea soup on their clothes. Other gods in the lunchroom looked toward the commotion but quickly lowered their heads, hoping to avoid becoming the next target of the unseen force.

Bernie was unaware of any of this. He was thinking of having to tell his mom he’d failed. A black hole had opened beneath his feet, and he was being sucked into it. Maybe it was better to keep falling. Maybe the end of the fall will be easier than the nightmare he found himself in now. How could he tell Mom?

What had he done wrong? He’d tried hard. He hadn’t hurt anyone. Well, except for Billy. Billy had been hurt in the fight. Somewhere inside, a fierce denial surfaced: it was not his fault! He hadn’t told his cloud to hurt Billy. Billy was the one who started the fight. If Billy hadn’t hurt Suzie, none of this would have happened. Wasn’t it okay to defend a friend? Even The School hadn’t punished him for what his cloud had done. Still, his friends stopped coming over, and his dad left. It changed his life forever. Did he have to pay forever? It wasn’t fair.

Chaos clouds don’t think in terms of fair. It’s far too subtle for them. Powerful emotions, like anger and fear and hurt are what they understand. And they don’t like those feelings at all. That’s why Bernie’s cloud was on a rampage. Food was flying from the serving line while nearby gods held trays like shields against globs of potatoes and carrots flung in their direction.

“Bernie! Bernie!” It wasn’t Suzie’s words that broke through Bernie’s thoughts. It was Lenny shaking his shoulder that forced him back to the present. Then he heard Suzie’s urgent whisper, “Get control of your cloud, Bernie!”

As the cafeteria returned to normal, people looked around for the source of the chaos. Bernie’s friends pretended to be as clueless as the rest of them, while preventing Bernie from jumping up and apologizing to everyone.

Suzie glanced at Bernie. He had the appearance of a puppy who had been kicked again and again. She was torn between the desire to hug him or to go find Billy and give him a new scar to match the one he already had.