The Puppet Master

CHAPTER 2

LOSS

NASA Ames Research Center.

Moffett Field, California

The day the Loma Prieta earthquake rocked the Bay Area, Alanna Mendes had been working for NASA at Moffett Field for exactly one month. At the very moment the quake began, she was on her way home to Mountain View when the roadway suddenly shuddered and then buckled beneath the shuttle bus. She would help others out of the vehicle, wait with them for rescue vehicles to arrive, and eventually make her way home on foot.

The next morning, Alanna was on time for work, as she would be every morning for the next nineteen years. Rain, wind, fog, good weather, bad weather, earthquakes...it made no difference. One thing that never changed was Alanna Mendes. She was punctual, precise, dedicated to her job. She was a creature of habit.

And after what had happened these past few months, she needed that in her life.

Each morning was the same. Leaving her apartment at 6:20, she would board the shuttle bus one block away at precisely 6:29. She sat in the second to last seat on the exit-door side of the bus. She said very little to others who got on the bus after her. The shuttle would make one more pickup stop in Mountain View and then four stops at various buildings once it entered the complex of facilities at Moffett Field. She would have between seventeen to nineteen minutes before reaching her destination at Building 23 of the NASA Research Park. Alanna would be at her desk between 6:45 and 6:50.

She liked beginning the day this way. The precision and the predictability of it appealed to the engineer in her. The time on the bus was her prep time, her focus period and her chance to immerse herself in work. She loved her job. She was good at it. But doing what she did required a clear head, a focused mind. The commute gave her a chance to shake out the cobwebs...and leave her personal life behind. Like every other morning, she spent the minutes going over her schedule for the day on her cell phone and reading email that had been sent to her overnight. She took the indispensable electronic device from her bag now.

Other NASA workers who rode the bus kept their distance. Her seniority and rank gave her clout, and they all knew what she'd endured this past fall. Everyone respected her desire for privacy.

"Mind if I sit here, Dr. Mendes?"

Almost everyone, Alanna thought, looking up. A new hire. She'd been introduced to the young engineer right before the holidays. She'd also seen her on her floor twice during the days between Christmas and New Years, when just a skeleton crew had been working. There were over a hundred and fifty people who worked in her group. It was a miracle that Alanna remembered the engineer at all. She looked up at the round, cheerful face and decided she didn't care to remember her name.

Alanna motioned vaguely at the four unoccupied rows of seats in front of her and looked back down at her cell phone. "There are plenty of seats."

"You probably don't remember me," the engineer said, dropping her briefcase and lunch pack on the seat in front of Alanna. She didn't sit down, though, and Alanna was forced to look up again.

Some of the other riders were directing surprised looks back at them.

"I'm Jill Goldman," the young woman continued, extending her hand. "I'm working with Phil Evans, who works for you. He's been telling me so much about you and the all your work on STEREO project. I've read every one of your publications. And when I was interviewed by NASA, I was astounded to think that I would actually be able to work beside you and-"

"I remember you," Alanna interrupted, deciding there was no point in being an absolute bitch. She shook the woman's hand briefly. "Look, Ms. Goldman, I have to get this done before we arrive at building 23."