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getting the food together, didn’t I?” Maria was already at the door, stepping past her husband almost before he knew she was there, and opening the first dresser drawer on her side of the room. “Besides, it’s not as if that park is going anywhere, is it?”
    Calvin wisely avoided commenting, and set to work finishing his own packing.
    He had his pack about finished, when Erin, with her frighteningly larger pack, shuffled by the bedroom. “Mom, did you pack the hotdogs?”
    “Honey,” Maria protested gamely, “you have to eat more than hotdogs on this trip!”
    “We’re going
camping
, Mom!—”
    “They’re made of tofu and mushrooms, they’re hardly hotdogs at all,” Calvin muttered to himself, just as the com beeped on the nightstand. “Agh—” He stepped around the bed to reach for the com, thinking,
that Clegg, he knows I’m going on vacation, if he wants the report tweaked, he knows he can give it to Bailey and she’ll polish it up
… he bent over and hit the answer button. “Clegg, just give it to Bailey, she’ll
take care
of it—”
    “Dr. Rios? This is the Ceo’s office.”
    Calvin froze, then winced and pursed his lips. He looked down at the com’s screen, where it displayed the unmistakable ident of the CnC. After a pause, he said, “Sorry… yes, this is Dr. Rios.”
    “The Ceo urgently requests your presence at a meeting with the President of the United States this morning.”
    “This morning?” Calvin repeated.
    “At ten hundred,”
the voice said. Calvin didn’t recognize the voice… but he knew no one would be crazy enough to spoof a call from the Ceo’s office. Not even the jokers he worked with.
“The Ceo and the President will be discussing the situation on Earth caused by Yellowstone. He needs you as scientific advisor to represent Verdant’s position.”
    Calvin did not want to speak. A small sound alerted him to his daughter, standing in the bedroom threshold. He could see his wife standing behind her, almost but not quite hidden around the corner.
    Before he could reply, to the com or to his family, the com spoke again: “
Is there a problem, Dr. Rios?”
    Calvin winced again, and said through clenched teeth, “No. No problem.” He allowed his face to relax, and allow the resignation to seep in. “I’ll be there at ten hundred.”
    “The Ceo requests you be there at least ten minutes sooner,”
the com stated.
    “Of course,” Calvin said.
    “Thank you, Doctor.”
The com went silent.
    Calvin keyed off the com, and straightened up. Slowly he turned, to face his wife and daughter. Erin’s face looked upset; Maria’s face was… something different… he sighed, hoping that it would effectively convey his displeasure of the situation. “Um… well, hopefully, it’ll just be a few hours’ delay. We can still get out of here by this afternoon.”
    Erin’s face screwed up. “We won’t have time for the hike!”
    Maria immediately stepped forward. “Now, honey, we’ll get some hiking in,” she said, draping her arms around her daughter’s shoulders. “It’s a fairly benign hike, as it is. We won’t miss much.” Erin’s face changed perceptively, her disappointment slowly changing to anger. She was about to turn on her mother, but before she could, Calvin stepped forward and took his daughter’s shoulders in his hands.
    He kissed his daughter on the forehead, and said, “Don’t fret, honey, we’ll just be late. It’ll be fine!” He reached over and gave his wife a peck on the cheek, and said, “I’d better get ready.” He gave them both a squeeze, then turned and opened his closet.
    Just let me get out of here in time—
    ~
    The tram deposited Calvin a floor below the CnC at fifteen minutes before ten. He’d almost missed that one, in the time it had taken him to change into more business-suited clothing, then attempt to soothe his daughter’s ruffled feathers before he left. Not that it would have helped, as he’d just left Erin and