As she turned the corner, she saw Neal. He looked tired, but as he rose to greet her she saw the same eagerness in his eye she had seen the day they had met in the control room. Since then she had been back in Washington, in her usual office. Unbeknownst to Neal, she had been party to the calls between General Pickler and Colonel Milton, and she wondered if Neal knew how vigorously the colonel had pursued Neal’s cause.

After receiving his latest reports, they had spoken briefly over the phone, but without the numbers and graphics in front of her it had sometimes been difficult to follow all of his arguments. Besides, it had been a while since she had found herself discussing a theory as interesting as this, and with someone as surprisingly capable as Neal was. Conversations like this were so much better in person. So she had arranged another trip to the Array a little sooner than she otherwise might have, and now found herself smiling warmly as she walked up to Neal, who watched her approach like a shipwrecked sailor sighting a sail on the horizon.

“Dr. West, I can’t say how grateful I am to you for coming all this way.” he said sincerely, taking her proffered hand.

“It’s Laurie, please.” she said with a friendly smile, “I have to say I was looking forward to it. You have some very interesting ideas, even if they are leading to some strange conclusions.”

“Yes, well, it certainly seems that way, but the numbers speak for themselves, don’t you agree?” he said, hopefully.

“Well apparently they aren’t speaking a language Washington can understand.” she said, laughing ruefully as she took a seat at the large table.

“Yes, well, maybe you can help me to translate it, or maybe just take out the big words.” he said with a smirk.

She surveyed the table which Neal had sequestered for his research, and the slew of papers, piled statistical analyses, physics textbooks, and copious notes that covered every inch of it. She felt a surge of curiosity and excitement for the coming debate. Though she always wanted to believe even the most outlandish theory, she would never allow herself to follow one blindly, and her powers of perception were of such a high level that she could play devil’s advocate to even the most well-founded and accepted theory.

While this one was currently accepted by only one man, she felt certain it still qualified as well founded, and looking up at the incisive eyes of that lone believer, she felt keen to start the battle of minds she sincerely hoped she was going to lose.

But before that, she would need some ingredients to stir the proverbial soup.

“OK,” she said, “we’re going to need coffee, cookies, water, a whiteboard, and more coffee.”