74 Time Together

The deputy director snatched the papers from his wife's hands and looked at them in disbelief. "Are these what I think they are?" 

"If you think they are some of my father's pages from his life's work, then, yes, that is exactly what they are," Noble gently pried back each of her husband's fingers until she could retrieve them. "Thanks to a meeting today, I didn't get as much done as I would like. I told Sarai that I would need a rain check for dueling tonight. I am going to try to catch up so that Manager Wailin doesn't hound me about it tomorrow."

"But, but, but..." Fort stuttered, still trying to process what he was looking at. "You are not supposed to bring any of those top-secret documents from the building!" 

The blond man looked like he might have a stroke.

"Relax. These were in our house already before the government confiscated them. And, more importantly, I got permission from the Chancellor to bring a copy of a limited number of pages home to work on this evening. I will return them tomorrow when I go into the office. Or I suppose I could return them with you, Deputy Director, if you think I can trust you." Noble thumbed through the pages and showed the order of permission she had been given.

Fort relaxed into the couch cushions. "I'm sorry for doubting you." 

"I would prefer you question me than have it weighing on your conscience. You are a good man." Noble leaned her back against her husband. "You can keep watching the news, I will try not to disturb you." 

"I'd rather talk with you. Is there something I can do to help?" Fort sighed contentedly, very glad to feel the warmth of his wife against him. 

"What is your clearance again?" Noble peeked up at her husband to see him roll his eyes. "Ah! So that's where Honey gets it from." 

Fort graced her with a longsuffering look. "You know I looked at all those pages before you did." 

"I know. I was only teasing." Noble kissed her husband's cheek and his face softened. 

Fort pulled her close. "So what is contained in today's pages?"

The Deputy Director read all the translated transcripts, both because of his curiosity about his departed father-in-law and as a natural part of his job. Although he could have let one of his subordinates scan and give him the highlights, he felt somewhat responsible for what was contained inside. If there was an answer lying within, he wanted to help find it. 

"It's mostly a bunch of data points from the gates leading up to the Category Five gate that demolished North America. The meeting I was in today... one of the men there pointed to the strangeness of the data he was getting on the gates. I wanted to expedite what I have here from the last disaster to give him something to compare it to." 

Noble had done some of it before but the data had seemed nonsensical and confusing. It was so bizarre that the professor had asked her mother if there were perhaps pages missing. When it was confirmed that all were there, Noble had been even more stymied. 

In the end, she alternated her translation time between the dry data and the more meaty information of her father's personal and professional observations. The latter had given her insight into how the scientists had tried and failed to solve the problem of what was happening with the Obel scale. 

After this afternoon, she felt the strong urge to translate all of the data points as soon as possible.

"Actually, this part of the translation is pretty straightforward if you want to help. Everin helped me some, but I felt compelled to check all the work, and I could tell it discouraged him." 

Noble realized it had been for the best. Her willing assistant had been invaluable in other tasks. Letting the computer translate what it could sped things along sometimes, but with it all being hand-written, the artificial intelligence often made mistakes. Only a human eye could accurately catch every detail.

Unfortunately, the couch was not the best place for writing. After a quick kiss, the pair decided it was best to move to a more secure location. 

After setting up a folding table, Fort activated their bedrooms' security protocol. The papers were spread out on the flat surface. 

Making a key for the numbers for Fort, Noble then added a few of the other key words from the pages for her husband to use. 

They went to work. Fort would mark all the things he could translate and then Noble would look over it and fill in any gaps. 

Pretty soon they had enough of a rhythm going that conversation became possible.

Fort cleared his throat while he scribbled down his notes. "Was it at least a productive meeting with the manager and the others today? I had no idea Wailin was going to include you, but I am glad he did."

"I think it was meant to be a punishment more than an honor. He was none too happy that you interfered with his team to make that meeting happen." Noble glanced up at her husband with a smirk.

Fort set aside a page and picked up the next one. "Manager Wailin is a hard man. I could give him the world, and he would find a reason to complain. But he does like for things to be done right, and he wants to keep things simple and clean. For that, I can respect him."

"Speaking of clean…I discovered your informant from my lunch interview today." Noble pursed her lips and corrected a mistake in front of her.

"Hm? What do you mean?" Fort barely glanced up, but Noble could feel the man's tension. She had hit a nerve.

"I know who sent you the picture of me with Frey. Mitt spilled his Mandu dip in his collar." The professor clicked her tongue. 

Fort's eyes widened slightly. "Guess I need to train my spies better. I hope you aren't too mad at him."

"He thought he was doing the right thing. I'm just surprised he recognized me. I think I have only seen him once or twice before." The professor mulled over the fact for a moment until she saw her husband's gaze.

"You, my dear, are unforgettable." 

Noble blushed, "Thank you. You are pretty memorable yourself."

"Unlike these numbers," Fort frowned and looked down at the page. "Other than their frequency, I do not see a pattern."

"Father saw one, but I do not quite understand his reasoning. Fortunately, one of the analysts on the team seems to get it, he just hasn't been able to apply it to our current situation. Maybe more data will fix his issue. At least that is what I am hoping…"

"You think you are close to a breakthrough?" Fort raised an eyebrow at his wife.

Noble waved her hand dismissively. "I think that every day. So far I've been wrong. Though I did find one other thing quite curious in the talks this afternoon. Perhaps you can shed some light on it for me." 

"Oh? And what has my wife's eyes dancing like the northern lights?" Fort saw a spark of determination ignite in his wife's face.

The corner of the professor's mouth turned up slightly. "Satellites."