Miss Greenwood thought Kate could detect the faint sheen of sweat. Maybe Miss Greenwood looked much the same. Probably Worse. Gareth was far better at withstanding stress than Kate was, even command-level stress. And now, they would share the terror because McFadyn was close to her side. Then suddenly, it occurred to Kate that Drew did not have to remain in the danger zone. McFadyn could be on the other side of the garage. A place where it would be much safer. She said, “Gareth, so if there is a bomb. Then, do you not think you should be farther away? Like about a hundred feet or so?” But no, McFadyn did not bother to answer Miss Greenwood and just shook his head. She said, “You think if I hold still, it will not go off? But what if it has a timer instead of a pressure switch?”
He said, “It was not intended for you but instead for me. I just happened to talk you into sitting down in my place.” Then, Kate took a deep breath. So if Miss Greenwood went up in seventy-two bloody, chunky pieces, Drew would blame himself, so that would figure. Then, Miss Greenwood inconveniently remembered Kate was not supposed to breathe deeply. Or, for that matter, make any movement at all. Then, Miss Greenwood Stopped Breathing Altogether. He said, “OK, it is OK, I should not have told you not to breathe, and I did overreact somewhat.” Gareth paused. “So, you can still breathe, supposing there is a pressure switch. Then, it cannot be hair-trigger.” Gareth paused. “Since if it was. Then, it would be far too easy to set it off.” Gareth paused. “And it would get easily triggered by someone slamming the door on the car in the next space. Or just by the wind jiggling the vehicle.” Gareth paused. “Since I Am Big. Then, they would probably set it for at least one hundred pounds.” Gareth paused. “So, remain firmly in the seat, settle right down, and stay there.”
She said, “So, this is one of those situations where it is better to be heavier.”
He said, “Then, I would say so. So, think some heavy thoughts.”
She said, “And I take it you will not go anywhere?”
He said, “Nope.”
She said, “Not even when the bomb squad comes?”
He said, “Not going anywhere, sticking like glue.”
She said, “So, what will we do until the bomb squad shows up? I have heard it can be anything up to three hours.” Kate tried not to think about what would happen if Miss Greenwood had to use the toilet. Maybe Kate would quickly lose all her excess moisture in a cold sweat. As it was, her teeth developed an alarming tendency to chatter. Miss Greenwood hoped McFadyn would not notice.
He said, “Well, I highly doubt it will be anything close to three hours.” Gareth paused. “I do not know where you got your figures. But it sounds more like the timetable for a small town in Kansas.” Gareth paused. “For better or worse, this is Washington, DC. So, I would expect a response time of thirty minutes or less.”
She said, “Besides wanting to keep Mr. Barracuda from getting his fool green-mohawked head blown off, is there any other reason you sent Al outside to make the call?”
He said, “Well, think about it.”
Then, Kate thought about it while chewing her lip. Undoubtedly, Professor Drew gave Miss Greenwood mental busywork to take her mind away from the situation. However, Kate had an idea. She said, “OK, Professor Alec Trebek, how about this? So, this is my Jeopardy question, can bombs get set off by cell phone transmissions?”
He said, “You are one of my better students and attractive, too.”
She said, “You probably say it to all your female students.”
He said, “Well, you probably see me teaching freshman literature. I taught graduate-level computer science at MIT. So, do you know how many females are in a group like that?”
She said, “I see what you mean. Almost Zero?”
He said, “I think there were, let me see, six? That was during the whole time I was teaching.” Gareth paused. “So, one happened to be married, another one was gay, and the other four were so intent on their careers that men were the last thing on their minds.” Gareth paused. “So, it is a very competitive atmosphere.”
She said, “But you seem to thrive in those.”
While wincing, he said, “Well, I got raised expecting to be cut down by others, supposing it is what you mean. That was my father, Andrew McFadyn.” Gareth paused. “Well, Dad taught me to expect the worst from people. And Always. And never to expect either mercy or forgiveness.” Gareth paused. “So if Dad made it easy for me, he would have thought I was getting mollycoddled.” Gareth paused. “Since no one lives too well under pressure. But some of us merely die from stress more slowly than others.”
She said, “So, suppose you would teach me about grace under pressure? Then, what should we be doing with potentially the last few minutes of our lives?”
He said, “Well, First, We Pray. Please, Father, give us courage in this frightening moment. And give us the strength to be a good example to those around us.” Gareth paused. “And to give us faith to believe you are still in charge, no matter what the dire appearances may be.” Gareth paused. “And please give us hope we will still be on this Earth tomorrow, and if it is not your will, suppose it is not to be. Then, let us be with you soon, amen.”
She said, “Then, it about covers it, I would say. You know, you are very good at that, praying stuff? It is almost as if you are on a first-name basis with the big guy upstairs. And almost as if you do this all the time.”
While grimly smiling, he said, “Well, I cannot imagine why you would say it.”
She said, “And you are right, as contact with the one in charge always puts the predicament in a different light.” Kate paused. “And now, I do not feel nearly so discouraged.” Kate paused. “Or Afraid. And you know, we may make it out of this bomb business alive.” Kate paused. “So, do you not think it is about time you told me why you swore off the women?”
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