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empress theresa.pdf
empress theresa.pdf
empress theresa.pdf
EMPRESS THERESA
Norman Boutin
One day I woke up at 6:30 a.m., tumbled out of bed, and changed to
jeans and sweatshirt before my groggy eyes cleared and I noticed an orange
spot in the middle of my field of view. It was right there in the exact middle
no matter where I looked. I hadn't noticed immediately because it was small.
It was like an orange golf ball at forty feet.
I put on shoes and walked to the living room. The orange spot was
always there. I went out to the backyard. Likewise, the little orange ball was
always there even when I looked up at the sky. HAL must have had something
to do with it.
“What is that for?” I whispered.
A few days later I was working in the tiny garden I kept in the backyard.
I liked to grow pumpkins, which were fairly easy to grow, and would grow
eight plants a year in the small plot. The plants now had vines three feet long
with little one inch pumpkins. They would expand rapidly in the next month
until they reached eight or ten inches in diameter in September.
I was pulling up the annoying weeds that kept sprouting up all the time.
The worst was that prickly weed whose name I didn’t know that would grow
three feet tall if you let it. I used a hand spade to dig one of the prickly weeds
up by the roots and felt a rock. I brought up the three inch wide flat rock and
threw it at a gallon water sprinkler can ten feet away. The rock hit the can
Chapter 4
I preferred to go to a supermarket in a direction away from Framingham
because the extra three miles it took to drive along this isolated road more
than made up for the waiting in Framingham traffic. It was on this road that
three cars ahead of me suddenly drew abreast of each other and stopped. I
Chapter 9
I went over the ideas I put in the MISSION IMPOSSIBLE file. They had
been for communicating with a non-verbal alien, a machine or something, but
I thought the MI ideas could be adapted to HAL. But before I used these math
theories I would have to get some response from HAL. This became the first
priority. I had to get him to respond to something I did, in effect, get him to
develop a new reflex that I could gradually modify in small steps to do
something else. Animal trainers did this. Somebody had once taught a
rhinoceros to walk a tight rope. I should be able to get HAL to do something.
My real work began. I tried to get HAL to respond in four ways. One was
to slide a small coin between two glasses on a table. I’d place a coin next to
one glass, leave it there a moment, then put my finger on it to slide it to the
other glass. After doing this a few times, I’d place the coin at the first glass
and wait a while to see if HAL would move it for me.
The second thing I did was a takeoff on the throwing accuracy skill that
HAL gave me. I tossed a coin in a small metal can a few feet away. Keeping
my eyes on the can’s opening got the coin inside the can every time. Then I’d
Chapter 11
It was nearly a month since our trip to Paris and Dublin and the
oppression of being trapped in this luxurious prison was getting to me again.
If people could see what I was doing here every day, manipulating HAL to spin
a plate in the air, juggle four balls in the air, squirt water from a dish, they
would think I was crazy. They wouldn’t understand that I had to develop the
parameters for controlling HAL one by one. As I explained it to Steve, I was
trying to shoot an arrow without the bow. An archer aims the bow, not the
arrow. The bow’s rigid structure and the tension of the string determine
where the arrow will go. I had to arrange for the arrow’s movement by listing
out all the parameters involved in three dimensions, in magnitude, and in
time. Besides that, when I’d do something on a grand scale I’d have to factor
in the curvature of the Earth’s surface. Besides that, I’d have to take into
consideration the speed of the Earth’s rotation at the place I was doing
something, a speed that differed for each latitude. And all that with a thing
that couldn’t count and couldn’t read a clock. People had no idea of the
complexity.
Chapter 12
With the Prime Minister’s help Steve got a seat on a British Airlines flight
to New York. He was driven by an Army sedan to Heathrow Airport for the
11:17 p.m. flight. Television cameras followed his every move through the
airport and reporters asked for details of my plans. Steve smiled and didn’t
answer.
I went to bed still filled with anxiety. I’d gotten one set of water columns
up. My plan called for two hundred sets all over the world. Could HAL handle
that much? If not, then kiss your butt good by, everybody. I had no backup
plan.
Sometime in the night I heard Arthur pounding frantically on my bedroom
door.
“Madam! Awake! Awake!”
He knocked again and repeated the message.
I became alert. “What is it?”
“The North Koreans are bombing your water columns. The President
wants to speak to you.”
“Holy crap! I’m going to my work room. Transfer the President there.”
Arthur raced to my third floor work room where I did my manipulation
of HAL. A phone had many pre-set push buttons one of which tied into the
house line. Arthur pushed.
“Are you there, Madam President?”
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“Yes.”
“Madam Hartley is here.”
I arrived only two seconds after he connected to the President. I grabbed
the phone.
“What the hell is going on?”
“The North Koreans launched a missile at your water columns. We must
assume it’s nuclear. What will happen if it hits HAL?”
“I don’t know.”
I didn’t know. What would happen if HAL suffered a direct hit by a
nuclear weapon? Would he be destroyed? Would he have the wind knocked
out of him for a while?
The President added, “You’ve heard what will happen if those water
columns fall?”
“Yeah. We lose a hundred million people.”
“Can you stop the missile?”
“No.”
“Can you get HAL out of there?”
“Yeah. All I have to do is make him withdraw his support of the
columns.”
“Can you keep the water from falling if you get HAL out of there?”
“No.”
“We’re running out of options, Theresa.”
“How much time before the bomb hits?”
“Four minutes.”
Four minutes to make an impossible decision! I looked around as if there
were help somewhere.
“What do you think, Arthur?”
“We can’t afford to lose HAL, madam.”
The truth was simple. I could not allow HAL to be destroyed or damaged.
But that meant condemning millions. My hand would be the instrument of
mass destruction.
“Arthur says get HAL out of there” I told the President.
“Then we lose a hundred million people?”
“Might beat the alternative.”
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“How do you know HAL would be harmed?”
“I don’t.”
“A tough decision, Theresa!”
It was, and the President was leaving it up to me.
“She left it up to me, Arthur.”
“She leaves you room to think, madam.”
“Think about what?”
“Three minutes” said the President.
My eyes winced and I started to cry. Try as I might I couldn’t think of
anything. There were no more options. There was nothing to be done. It was
hopeless. Panic was setting in. I was losing it.
“Of all times for this to happen” I wailed. “Steve’s not here.”
Arthur said, “They did that to unnerve you, madam. Hah!” He pulled his
shoulders back in the British manner and gave me a wide confident smile. It
worked. I calmed down and let my mind clear itself.
“Two minutes.”
I looked at the chessboard used to control this task. If I removed the six
chess pieces the water columns would stop beginning from the bottom while
the water that had already risen into the air would continue to go up to an
altitude of 150 miles. But would HAL still be in the missile’s path? I didn’t
know. After considering for a while I rejected the idea.
“One minute.”
I thought. What if I laid the plywood board flat and removed one of the
metal street address numbers making up the tag number? Then HAL might
stop the task immediately. Maybe. Or maybe not. Then if I replaced the
numeral…………?
“I have an idea. If it doesn’t work we can say the butler did it. Give me
a countdown.”
I handed the phone to Arthur who understood he was to pass on the
countdown. I raced to my desk to get a metal letter opener. Then I
laid the plywood board flat and got ready to pry up the last numeral of
the tag number glued to the board. The glue was weak; it would be
easy to remove the numeral.
“Thirty seconds” said Arthur.
Chapter 16
I spent a sleepless night. The unfairness of my position kept the tears
flowing. “What have I done to deserve this?” I thought. It was like
when I was ten years old and HAL first merged with me. I thought of
the unfairness of having this thing intrude in my life.
Now the thought was oppressive. The consequences of HAL was upon
me and I couldn’t escape. No matter what I did, whether I returned the
declination to the original or not, millions of people would die, and their
families would blame me for not doing the opposite. Why did God choose me
for these trials?
People interviewed on television said they envied me my glamorous
power and importance. Oh really? Who would trade places with me now?
I was learning something new about remorse. You can feel guilty about
doing something wrong, or not doing something you should have. You can
also have remorse for doing something good the wrong way. I shouldn’t have
let Blair lead me to handling HAL alone. I should have invited a committee to
share power. Things might have turned out better, or at least I wouldn’t be
taking all the blame alone. I guess that is the regret of a lot of old people
when they look back and realize too late what might have been.
Chapter 17
Thirty-two year old lawyer Connie McKesson worked for the old New
York law firm Kent, Stein, O’Connor, and Farley. I soon learned about her.
Steve and I watched the news with Mr. and Mrs. Parker. Once again I was the
lead story.
“A class action suit is being filed against Theresa Hartley for damages to
owners of gold. Attorney Connie McKesson spoke to reporters a short while
ago.”
The scene switched to Connie McKesson standing at a podium with eight
older lawyers standing behind her. “We are filing a class action suit against
Theresa Hartley for suddenly and callously ruining the fortunes of thousands
of gold bullion owners. Many people put most or all of their retirement funds
in gold thinking it was the safest of all investments only to be wiped out when
Mrs. Hartley caused the price to collapse. Her failure to make some kind of
arrangement with the victims has lead us to ask for thirtyfive billion dollars in
damages which is far less than she will get from her gold sales.”
The scene switched to a reporter interviewing a Yale law professor.
“Does Connie McKesson have a case?”
“In most districts, no. But with the amount of money involved they will
file in every district in the country until they find a judge who will take on the
case. They do have an argument although a weak one. She did not discover
a gold mine on Earth which would be a legitimate basis for competition in
sales. Lawyers will argue she changed the rules of the game during halftime,
Chapter 18
Did I know what I was doing? Heck no! I admit it. I was just an eighteen
year old kid who tried to accommodate people’s needs. I didn’t know what it
would lead to. Mr. Parker told me you can’t do something right the first time
you do it. Any change in routine is sure to cause problems every single time.
There are no exceptions. Yeah, well, not doing something can be a mistake
too.
Four men sent by Ambassador Fox arrived at the Parker estate. I was
amused as they introduced themselves as Bob, Jack, Harry, and Chuck. These
were probably all fake names.
Chapter 19
Prime Minister Scherzer had not tried to hide his visit to London to see
me. The Israelis needed to know he was trying to do something whether or
not he got anything out of me. When he returned to Tel Aviv he made a
television broadcast to the nation. The usually stern PM allowed himself to
emote.
“My beloved Israelis. This is a blessed day. I talked with Mr. and Mrs.
Hartley hoping against all reason that Mrs. Hartley could help us. I am happy
to announce that she and her husband were most helpful and sympathetic.
Chapter 22
The day came when Steve and I had to say good by to the Parkers. It was
an emotional occasion. So much had happened in the last year it seemed like
we’d been in the house most of our lives. Now the reality that we were
leaving was very hard to bear.
******ebook converter DEMO Watermarks*******
We were all packed and the luggage had been sent ahead of us. Also, all
the plywood and mat boards that I used to control HAL had been put in crates.
They would be transported by the British navy under close guard. I couldn’t
let them fall in the wrong hands. They were as dangerous as a shipment of
plutonium.
Steve went down first and asked Arthur to join him in the family room
out of sight of the Parkers.
“Arthur, Theresa says you helped us a lot and she wants to reward you.
Here’s ten million dollars. Don’t refuse to take it. It’s nothing to Theresa.
She wouldn’t pick it up off the ground.”
He showed Arthur a large suitcase full of hundred dollar bills.
Arthur was deeply moved. “Thank you, sir.”
“I guess you’ll hire your own butler now?” Steve joked.
“No, sir. You have made this house a shrine to the human spirit. I will
never leave.”
Steve returned to me and we took one last look around at the bedroom,
and my work room where so much good had been done.
We went downstairs to say good by. The entire Parker family and Arthur
waited in the living room wearing brave smiles to cover their sorrow.
I went up to Edmund Parker to shake his hand. “Good by, Mr. Parker.
Thanks for everything.”
“Farewell, my dear. You will write?”
“I will.”
Steve shook Parker’s hand too. I went on to Mrs. Parker.
“Thank you for the use of your lovely home.”
“You made it a true palace, Theresa.”
Next was the 17 year old son John, and 13 year old Stephanie who could
barely keep her eyes dry, and 11 year old Jennifer who was crying like she was
losing everything she valued.
Most painful of all was saying good by to Arthur standing a respectful ten
feet away. I walked up to him and shook my head side to side with a teary
smile.
“I’ll miss you most of all, Arthur.”
Chapter 26
An old English poem says there’s a Newton or da Vinci buried in every
village graveyard, his genius never revealed by educational opportunities or
recognized by other people and himself. Life is what we think about all day in
the search of what we can and should do. I was the first to admit I had many
Chapter 27
Two hundred and four white spheres hovered miles over Eastern
Massachusetts. A little less than a yard wide each and swirling around several
yards from each other, they weren’t visible from the ground.
They slowly drifted down to a height of two miles. A commercial jet
flying towards Boston from the west flew almost directly over them. The pilot
reported the strange phenomenon to Logan Airport.
Another commercial jet sighted the spheres. This second sighting was
passed along to the Air Force along with the first. Jet fighters were sent out.