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Stepping Up

Written by Jack Carroll

American Electric Works
The president's office
7:30 PM

Gottfried voiced an untranslatable grunt of frustration. "How on earth do they come up with this?"

Landon looked at the page. "Hmm. Yes. You have every right to be confused, the author should have shown some intermediate steps. Well, let's walk through it . . .

". . . so that's where equation 16 came from."

Gottfried mused, "I see. And from there it's not much of a leap to the wave equation. And from that, we get the speed of light, and radio, and everything else."

"Right."

"Why can't these books be available in Latin? Nobody can study all this new physics without coming to Grantville and learning English first." That was a half-mutter from Manfred von Ochsendorf.

Landon looked sidelong across the small conference table. Manfred was no pampered son of the nobility. His was a "bauer" von, and he worked as hard at his studies as anyone. On the other hand, he was young, and not the soul of patience when something wasn't the way it should be. "Very true," Landon said drily. "What are you going to do about it?"

"Professor! What do you mean by that?"

"Easy, Manfred. I wasn't making fun of you. Your question deserves a serious answer. So does mine.

"Sure, the textbooks and teaching guides for this course should be published in Latin. Then the subject could be taught anywhere in Europe. But just how is that going to happen? Think about it. When you and your classmates finish this course, you'll be the first scholars in history to understand both electrodynamics and Latin. Unless you're willing to step up to the plate, it may not get done for a very long time."

"Step up to the . . . ?"

"You haven't heard that expression? It comes from baseball. Have you had time to watch a game? Well, when your side is at bat, and your turn comes, you step up to the plate and do the best you can for your team. A whole lot of people have been doing that, the last few years. For instance, I never expected to be a company president. Heck, I wasn't an electrical engineer before the Ring of Fire hit, either. "

"You weren't!" Anneke Decker said with surprise.

"No. You didn't know that? Well, let me tell you a little story.

"After I finished college in 1998, I came back to Grantville intending to teach math and physics. I got moved over to metal trades for a while, because the school was short in that department and I had the experience from working in Dad's machine shop a few summers. But I picked up one physics course, and I was preparing to teach calculus and analytic geometry to seniors in the fall, when everything got turned inside out.

"A couple of weeks after the Ring hit, I got word through the family grapevine that the power plant was looking for somebody who knew physics. Turned out they had a real situation on their hands.

"The deal was, the big turbine generator that came through with the Ring had enough spare parts to last maybe a year and a half. With survival pretty much riding on Grantville's technology edge, they stepped up with a plan to replace the turbine with a generator they could sustain.

"It was a scary time. When they added up the project schedule, it didn't work. They needed another electrical engineer to get everything done in time, and there wasn't one. So they hired me as an electrical engineering trainee.

"Well, that year was quite an experience. There were plenty of days I studied what I needed just in time for that day's work . . ."

The Landon and Sarah Reardon home
8:30 PM

"Hello, honey. Supper's just about ready. Come here and give me a hug, then set the table, would you?"

"Mmm. It's good to be home."

Five minutes later they sat down to dinner. They chatted a little about the day's doings, and then came the words no husband wants to hear.

"Lan, we've got to talk."

Landon saw the way she leaned forward a little, with the tips of her slender fingers resting on the tablecloth. He tensed up a little, and quietly said, "All right. What is it?"

"I hardly see you all week. ...