In contrast to the quiet landscape countryside outside, the auditorium was a bustle of activity as Edward Teller Middle School hosted its 79th consecutive science fair. Walking past the booths the 7th and 8th graders had set up on folding tables, Principal Jeffers smiled wanly at the excited students who stood by their various displays. Keep smiling, Jeffers kept telling himself; this will all be over soon. Another damned science fair come and gone, and good riddance to the lot of ‘em, he thought. After all, no man, no matter what his sins, should be required to endure even one more of those damn solar system model constructed of painted Styrofoam balls and fishing line. Should he? And if he didn’t see at least three of those models, and a couple of poster illustrating the nervous system of a bull frog, and perhaps even one working volcano model, he would consider it a good day.
Jeffers just hated science fairs.
Ah, now here was something interesting. What was the boy’s name? Ah, Timmy. Timmy Novack, he thought. Now that he remembered his name, the youngster came into fuller focus in his memory. Straight A student, chess club president, on the recycling committee, chief yearbook photographer, treasurer for both the Spanish Club and the Future Farmers of America, and secretary for the Dungeons and Dragons Club. And so on. There were more, of course; there always were.
A prime, FDA grade AAA geek.
“Mr. Jeffers, hi! Do you like my project?” Just then, Mrs. Bricker, Timmy’s science teacher, walked up and smiled wanly at both of them. “Mr. Jeffers…what do you think of our Timmy’s little project?” Obviously, Jeffers could see, Mrs. Bricker was awfully proud of her top student. Jeffers pulled Mrs. Bricker aside and murmured “Uh - what is it?” He was genuinely puzzled at Timmy’s project. Timmy laughed happily and came around to the front of the table. On the table were a pile of frankly confusing engineering blueprints and sketches. Behind the table, on the standard-issue cardboard backdrop was a flow chart with some seemingly complicated equations. “Guess! Guess what I made, Mr. Jeffers.”
