Creative Commons – The Plainsrunner – Chapter Twenty-One

Continuing the serial release of The Plainsrunner under a Creative Commons Attribution Share-Alike license – (CC-BY-SA).

Sage learns what she must do to get admitted to the college so she can work with the professor on the gliders.

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rjb

Chapter Twenty-One – Higher Education

Sage was thinking about what to do next when she heard the front door open. She stepped out into the hallway in time to hear the Professor say, “Just take it upstairs, please. I’ll be in my laboratory.”

Two men started up the stairs and she could see that they were carrying large, bulky things on their backs. This must be the chest of drawers he was talking about, she thought. He must have ordered it right away, before going to work in his laboratory. She smiled and moved up the hall to let them in her room, then followed them in.

They were looking around for a place to put their load down as she squeezed past them. Sizing up the new piece of furniture, she quickly decided to move her panniers over to the side wall, beside the open door, so they could put it down beside the head of the bed. She helped unship the frame and put it up against the wall, then she did the same with the four drawers. Once they were fitted into the frame, the three of them stood back to look at it.

“That’s good,” she said. “And quick, too. I wasn’t expecting it to arrive so soon.”

The one who had carried the frame said, “When we get a request from Professor Tailor, we drop everything. He’s an important man around here, and he gets what he wants.” He looked at his partner and they smiled, then looked back at her.

The smiles made Sage feel uncomfortable. There was something more than simple friendliness in them. She suddenly felt very crowded in the small room, so she worked her way out the door and into the hallway. “Thank you,” she said as she showed them out. “I can manage it from here.”

“Yes miss,” he said, and led his partner toward the stairs. “I’m sure you can.” They didn’t talk all the way down and out the front door, but she saw them exchanging glances in the stairway. She moved over to the window and watched them pass underneath it. They were talking and laughing until one of them looked up and saw her, then they sobered up and walked sedately until they passed out of sight.

Sage pulled her face back from the glass. “I wonder what that was about,” she muttered. Then she spied the chest of drawers and forgot about it. She emptied her panniers and filled the drawers, then covered the top of the chest with the things she had tried to fit around the books on the shelves. When she was done she dropped her haunches onto one of the pads on the floor and looked at her room. With her back knees up around her ribs and her front legs braced straight, she crossed her arms and nodded.

Last night she had slept in a dark storeroom, and thought it was an improvement. The night before she was in the traders’ shelter, getting her first good sleep in a month. That month had been spent in constant danger to her life, and before that she had been a simple, fun-loving child. She shook her head at the changes she’d been through, and looked again at where she was now. She smiled. She thought she must be the luckiest refugee ever to turn up in this city. The smile tightened. Now it would be up to her to make the most of it.

First was the thing the movers had said about the Professor: “He’s an important man, and he gets what he wants.” Sage remembered what Digger had said about city people and how they were interested in what was in it for them. And she remembered her banishment and her month-long ordeal, where she learned that she had to take care of herself. Now she was thinking about how lucky she was to be connected to a man of such influence, and about how much good that could do her. Then she felt bad, and a flash of shame, about scheming like that. She suppressed that impulse, telling herself that it might have been appropriate in the altruistic life of her village, but not here.

Second, now that she was settled in up here, and it wasn’t even mid-afternoon yet, she decided it was time to go down to the laboratory. Now that all the running around was done, her mind came back to her glider. What was it? Where had it come from? All the questions when she found it. More when it got her banished. Yet more when people tried to steal it from her. Now here she was with a man who ought to know. Who had his own glider that he had been studying for ten years. Who knew people who had other gliders. Sage decided it was time to go to the laboratory and start asking questions. With a last look around, she went out, shut her door behind her, and went downstairs.

She went across the foyer and peeked in his office, just to be sure, before going to the laboratory door. Stopping in front of it, she hesitated. Should she knock or walk right in? Knocking is more polite, but what if he’s doing something important and it takes him away from it? Letting herself in would save him the trouble, but what if the intrusion disrupted an experiment? She dithered for a full minute before finally knocking. She decided that politeness and a show of respect would be best in the long run.

After a short pause he called out, “Please wait in my office. I’ll be with you shortly.”

Sage turned to go to his office, then stopped herself. Why would he tell her to wait in his office? Was it because he didn’t want her in his laboratory? Or maybe he didn’t know it was her. Maybe he thought it was one of his students. Either way she wasn’t going to wait. If he didn’t want her in the laboratory, then all the more reason for her to be in there. She wasn’t going to let him shut her out of this. Not when it was her own glider. And if he thought she was a student, then he would be glad of the correction. She turned back to the door and said, “It’s me, Professor. Sage.”

She heard nothing, then the sound of his footsteps approaching the door. She prepared herself for annoyance, even anger, at being disturbed at his work. She swallowed as the door opened, but it was all right. He said, “I’m sorry, Sage. I was lost in the work, and … To be honest, I’d forgotten you were here.”

She might have been miffed at being forgotten, but somehow she found it endearing. “That’s okay, Professor,” she said, peering around him into the room. “I wanted to tell you that the chest of drawers arrived, and to thank you for doing it so promptly.”

“Think nothing of it, Sage. I want you to be comfortable, and there was nothing to be gained by putting off the call.”

“Well, thank you anyway. When I saw you leaving with the glider … well, you didn’t look as if you would be thinking of anything else for a while.”

“Oh, the artifact,” he said, looking back over his shoulder. She could see it on the back workbench, next to his. “Oh, of course,” he said, backing out of the doorway. “Do come in, please. Let me show you what I’m doing.”

They walked side by side between workbenches to the back where their two gliders sat almost touching. He explained as they walked. “I’ve been testing them. After what you said about them vibrating when in proximity, I’ve been setting them at different distances and checking the amplitude and frequency of the vibrations.” Seeing her blank look, he added, “The loudness and the, uh, pitch. How loud and how high or low.”

Her face cleared. “I get it,” she said. “Amplitude is loudness and frequency is pitch.” She saw him nod, and she said, “Look at that. I just got here and already I’ve learned something.”

He laughed with her, then said, “So far there has been no change in either amplitude or frequency. I just finished recording the results at this distance when you knocked. Now the next is when they’re touching.” He let her watch him move them together and carefully ensure good, solid contact, then set up the instruments to capture the results. Then he picked up a big notebook and carefully recorded the readings, along with the date, the time and the ambient temperature. That done, he certified it with his initials.

She was impressed by the thoroughness and the care he showed. She intuitively understood that it helped to ensure consistency, so things could be compared from one experiment to the next. When he told her that it also allowed other scientists to replicate the experiments and get useful results, she got another revelation. She had always had an inquiring nature, and she had always tried to see beyond the surface of things, but now she was getting a lesson in discipline. It was not lost on her, and the lesson would serve her well.

Her mind felt clear and energized. She had a sense that this was right. That she was in the right place and doing the right thing. At that moment she was sure that it was all meant to be. The glider came to her. It got her banished. She survived her ordeal and met the Professor, and now here she was in his laboratory doing experiments. She said, “What do we do next? What’s the next experiment?”

He hesitated and looked away. When he looked back, his face was apologetic. He said, “I hope I didn’t mislead you, Sage, when I said you could observe.” She waited while he looked around his laboratory. Then he looked right into her eyes and said, “I can allow you to be here, and to observe, but I can’t allow you to take part in the experiments.”

“Why not?” She couldn’t keep the suspicion out of her voice.

“I’m afraid you’re not qualified.”

“Not qualified? What does that mean?”

He sighed. “It’s quite complicated, but what it boils down to is you have no academic standing.”

“Academic standing. Does that mean I’m uneducated?”

“No,” he said quickly. “Well, in a way. It means you don’t have the right kind of education.” Again she waited for him to clarify, frowning, with her arms crossed. “If you were a student here, in the sciences, you could be a lab assistant.”

“Well then,” she said, “I’ll be a student when you start teaching me.”

“It’s not that simple, I’m afraid. You see, you’re not qualified to attend the university.”

Her frown deepened and her feet began to move restlessly. “And what do I need to be qualified for that?”

“You need a standard education, with the correct electives and a sufficient level of success to apply for admission,” he said.

She was quiet for a moment, then said, “Is there anything else?”

“No,” he said. “If you meet the requirements and are admitted, then you can be a student here.”

She caught the qualification. “What’s that about admission? It sounds like there’s a catch there.”

“Well, there are only so many seats,” he said, “and some of them are promised.” Seeing her face, he hastened to add, “To the children of alumni, and so on.”

“So, if I get past all that, then I can assist you here in the lab.” She had picked up on his abbreviation.

“Yes, providing you have the money to pay the tuition.”

“Money,” she said. “Of course. Digger told me that.”

“The university needs money to operate,” he said. “Salaries have to be paid. Buildings must be maintained. Books must be bought.” He spread his hands to indicate his own lab. “Equipment is expensive.”

“I get it,” she said. “How much money?” When he told her, she was shocked. “How does that compare to how much you gave Digger for my glider?” When he told her, she said, “So I would have to sell ten gliders to get an education.”

“That’s just for one year,” he said quietly.

“One year? And how many years do I need before I can work here?”

“Oh, you can start in your first year. It’s just if you want any kind of diploma to show your qualifications, then you need at least four years, or for some things, six or eight.”

“Eight years,” she said. “It sounds like your university has a pretty good thing going for it.”

“Not just this one,” he said. “All universities. It’s a well-established tradition.”

“It sounds like it’s a tradition that’s meant to make sure that only certain people can get in. People whose families have money, or who went here before. The same families.”

“Yes,” he said, “it does look that way. But it’s not entirely true. You can get in on a scholarship.”

Interested, she asked, “How does that work?”

“If you do well enough at the standard education, in the top two percent or better, you can win a scholarship that will pay your tuition.” Modestly he added, “That’s how I got in.”

She brightened. “So it’s not all money and influence. Some of the smartest people can get in, too.” She had been prepared to condemn the whole system, but this changed things a little.

“That’s right,” he said. “So, do you see why I can’t let you work with me?”

“Yes,” she agreed. “Not right away, anyway. Once I get in here it will be a different matter, but for now we’ll just have to find another way.”

“You’re going to try to get admitted to the university?” He was sceptical and worried that her hopes would be crushed, but he also thought she might be able to do it. He hadn’t known her long – less than a day, he reminded himself – but he thought if anyone could do it, she might be the one.

“Yes,” she said. “In the meantime, while I’m getting educated and qualified and admitted, I need to do something to make myself useful.” She looked around the lab, at all the surfaces and nooks and crevices, and all the glassware scattered about, and said, “You could use a cleaner.”