Chapter 9

“Professor Lawton?”

Daniel jerked his head up from his blind contemplation of the desk. “Yes?” The majority of the class was still bent over the exam he’d given them. Amy Benson stood before him, ready to hand in her exam. He glanced at the clock. Another ninety minutes before he could escape to VEX.

Amy shook her head, her dark curls framing her face. “Off in a daze as usual, Professor?” She whispered, trying to not let her voice carry while others still worked.

“Not really.” He glanced out the window, seeing the rain pelt the pane. “Rainy days have that effect on me.”

Not to mention reliving a disturbing episode from my past.

Dan glanced at the curriculum for his course, Inorganic Materials Chemistry. “Did you finish your exam?”

Amy nodded like a horse. “I did. Professor Lawton, this one proved to be a bit challenging.”

At that, his eyebrows arched. “How so?”

Any other student would have been disheartened by its difficulty. Amy Benson took challenges and used them to better her intellect. Perhaps that was why he had such an affinity for her. She reminded him of himself when he was her age.

“Bonding in solids, band theory, and electronic structures. It’s all complicated but I find myself invigorated by these things. Really wakes me up on a cold, grey day like today.”

He caught the light of mirth in her eye. He should have known better. “How ironic that such a wet day can really dry up your sense of humor. With your degrees in chemistry, advanced engineering and robotic theory, being challenged should be old hat to you.”

She gave a nonchalant shrug. “Well, Professor, I have to be prepared. We’re approaching uncharted territory in the area of robotics. And you’re the one leading the way.”

“Now you sound like a groupie,” he grinned. “Sixty years and I finally have a groupie all of my own!”

A husky, soft laugh erupted from Amy’s mouth. “Professor, you practically wrote the book on modern robotic theory. That synthetic skin has become the standard for plastic surgeons. You caused this great renaissance.”

The words, if they had been uttered by anyone other than Amy Benson, would have come as adulated pretension. Daniel knew Amy, though. She stated the facts as they were or as she saw them. Gifted individuals, as far as he understood, tended to be quite honest. If they hated you, they let you know. If they liked you, they let you know. There was no time for in-between.

“So I did,” he acquiesced, feeling embarrassed over the admission.

A phrase from his mother, one he hadn’t heard in years floated into his mind. “It’s a poor dog that won’t wag its own tail.”

Amy handed in her test paper with a note. “See you later Professor.”

Amy exited the room. Dan glanced at the clock before standing to announce, “OK class, time is up. If you haven’t finished yet I don’t think another 30 seconds will do you any good. Turn in your exam papers. Grades will be posted in the portal by next week.”

Everyone shuffled forward to hand in their exams. He watched hawkeyed to ensure there weren’t any shenanigans but then shrugged. “Please log into your portals for the next assignment, homework detail, and dates. If you need to contact me, make sure you send a message.”

He shook his head. No wonder he couldn’t connect with the students. Everything was done through machines now. He needed to put in a few hours at the lab because VEX would be starting soon. The robotics expo and competition would go on for three days so he didn’t really have to go today. The most interesting events wouldn’t be happening until tomorrow at the robotics competition.

Still, he didn’t want to miss anything.

“What to do, what to do,” he murmured to himself as he gathered all his papers and stuffed them into his briefcase.

The next moment, his stomach rumbled. “Well,” he quipped, “I guess that takes care of the next few minutes.”

He exited the building and went down the hall. As he passed fellow faculty, he gave nods of greeting but didn’t stop to chat with anyone. That memory from his past still held its grip.

What had he seen as a boy back then? In the fevered imagination of his childhood, it had to be an alien spaceship. Visions of tentacle monsters with multiple eyes had dominated his dreams back then. He’d run back home with Buster and hid in his room, fearful of coming out lest the alien creatures came to take him away in their spaceship.

Over the past several weeks, the images of that day had receded, taken by with the minutiae of everyday life and his experiments, until he could almost believe he’d simply imagined it.

But had he?