Pitt unceremoniously bounced a piece of wadded-up napkin off Beau's forehead. He'd been nervously toying with the paper while waiting for Beau and Cassy to arrive.
'For those of you nerds who have no idea of what's going on in the real world, last night at quarter past ten a whole shitload of radios and TVs were knocked out all over the city,' Pitt said. 'Mine included. Some people think it was a prank by some guys in the physics department, and I'll tell you, I'm steamed.'
'It would be nice if it happened over the entire country,' Beau said. 'Within a week of no TV the national average IQ would probably go up.'
'Orange juice for everyone?' Marjorie the waitress asked. She'd appeared at the tableside. Before anyone could answer she began pouring. It was all part of the normal morning ritual. Then Marjorie took their orders and barked them in Greek over the counter to the two short-order cooks.
While everyone was enjoying their juice, Beau's cellular phone's muted ring could be heard under the fabric of his jacket. In his haste to get to it, he knocked over his juice glass. Pitt had to react instinctively to avoid a lap full of OJ.
Cassy shook her head captiously as she pulled out a half-dozen napkins from the holder and blotted up the spilled juice. She rolled her eyes for Pitt's benefit and mentioned that Beau had been pulling off equivalent stunts all morning.
Beau's expression brightened when he realized his hopes had been answered: the call was coming from Randy Nile's organization. He even made certain to pronounce the name, Cipher, very clearly for Cassy's benefit.
Cassy explained to Pitt that Beau was looking for employment with the Pope.
'I'd be happy to come for an interview,' Beau was saying with studied calmness. 'It would be my pleasure indeed. Whenever Mr. Nile would like to see me, I'd be happy to fly east. As I indicated in my cover letter, I'll be graduating next month, and I'd be available to begin work ... well, really any time thereafter.'
' 'Thereafter!' ' Cassy sputtered. She choked on her orange juice.
'Yeah,' Pitt chimed in. 'Where'd that word come from? That doesn't sound like the Beau I've learned to love.'
Beau waved them off and shot them a dirty look. 'That's correct,' he said into the phone. 'What I'm looking for is some permutation of the role of personal assistant to Mr. Nile.'
'Permutation?' Cassy questioned, suppressing a laugh.
'What I like is the muted but fake English accent,' Pitt said. 'Maybe Beau should go into acting and forget computers.'
'He is a rather good actor,' Cassy said, tickling his ear. 'This morning he was pretending to be a klutz.'
Beau batted away her hand. 'Yes, that would be fine,' he said into the phone. 'I'll make arrangements to be there. Please tell Mr. Nile I look forward to meeting him with great alacrity.'
' 'Alacrity'?' Pitt voiced, pretending to gag himself with his index finger.
Beau pressed the end button and flipped his cellular phone closed. He glared at both Cassy and Pitt. 'You guys are like really mature. That was possibly the most important call in my life, and you're clowning around.'
' 'Like really mature'! That sounds more like the Beau I know,' Cassy said.
'Yeah, who was that other guy talking on the phone?' Pitt asked.
'He's the guy who's going to be working for Cipher come June,' Beau said. 'Mark my word. After that, who knows? While you, my friend, are going to be wasting another four years in medical school.'
Pitt laughed out loud. 'Waste four years in medical school?' he questioned. 'Now that's a curious, albeit twisted perspective.'
Cassy slid over next to Beau and started to nibble at his earlobe.
Beau pushed her away. 'Jeez, Cass, there are professors in here that I know, people who might be writing me letters of recommendation.'
'Oh, don't be so uptight,' Cassy said. 'We're just teasing you 'cause you're so wired. Actually I'm amazed Cipher called you. It's quite a coup. I'd imagine they'd get lots of job inquiries.'
'It's going to be even more of a coup when Randy Nile offers me a job,' Beau said. 'The experience would be mindboggling. It's a dream job. The man is worth billions.'
'It would also be demanding,' Cassy said wistfully. 'Probably twenty-five hours a day, eight days a week, fourteen months a year. That doesn't leave much time for us, especially if I'll be teaching here.'
'It's merely a way to get a jump on a career,' Beau said. 'I want to do well for us so that we can really enjoy our lives.'
Pitt pretended to gag himself again and pleaded with his breakfast companions not to make him sick with mushy romantic stuff.
Once the food came, the threesome ate quickly. They all involuntarily glanced at their respective watches. They didn't have that much time.
'Anybody up for a movie tonight?' Cassy said as she drained her coffee. 'I've got an exam today and I deserve a little relaxation.'
'Not me, Pumpkin,' Beau said. 'I got a paper due in a couple of days.' He turned and tried to get Marjorie's attention to get the check.
'How about you?' Cassy asked Pitt.
'Sorry,' Pitt said. 'I'm doing a double shift at the medical center.'
'What about Jennifer?' Cassy asked. 'I could give her a call.'
'Well, that's up to you,' Pitt said. 'But don't do it on my account. Jennifer and I are on the outs.'
'I'm sorry,' Cassy said with feeling. 'I thought you two guys were a great couple.'
'So did I,' Pitt said. 'Unfortunately she seems to have found someone more to her liking.'
For a moment Cassy's and Pitt's eyes held, then they both looked off, feeling a twinge of embarrassment and a mild sense of deja vu.
Beau got the check and smoothed it out on the table. Despite all three having had various college math courses, it took them five minutes to figure out how much each owed once a reasonable tip had been added.
'You want a ride to the med center?' Beau asked Pitt as they pushed out into the morning sunshine.
'I suppose,' Pitt said ambivalently. He was feeling a little depressed. The problem was that he still harbored romantic feelings toward Cassy despite the fact that she had spumed him and Beau was his best friend. He and Beau had known each other since elementary school.
Pitt was a few steps behind his friends. His inclination was to go around to the passenger side of Beau's car to hold the door for Cassy, but he didn't want to make Beau look bad. Instead he followed Beau and was about to climb into the backseat when Beau put his arm on his shoulder.
'What the hell is that?' Beau asked.
Pitt followed Beau's line of sight. Stuck in the dirt directly in front of the driver's door was a curious, round black object about the size of a silver dollar. It was symmetrically domed, smooth, and in the sunlight it had a dull finish that made it difficult to tell if it were metal or stone.
'I must have stepped on the damn thing when I got out of the car,' Beau said. The indentation of a smudged footprint clearly angled off to one side from the object's rounded peak. 'I wondered why I slipped.'
'Do you think it dropped out from under your car?' Pitt asked.
'It's weird-looking,' Beau said. He bent down and, with the side of his hand, brushed away some of the sand from the partially buried curiosity. When he did so he could see eight minute little domes symmetrically arrayed around the object's edge.
'Hey, come on, you guys!' Cassy called from inside the car. 'I got to get to my student teaching assignment. I'm already late as it is.'
'Just a sec,' Beau answered. Then to Pitt he asked: 'Any ideas what it is?'
'Not a clue,' Pitt admitted. 'Let's see if your car starts.'
'It's not from my car, you lunkhead,' Beau said. With his thumb and index finger of his right hand he tried to pick the object up. It resisted his efforts. 'It must be the end of a buried rod.'
Using both hands to scrape away the gravel and sand from around the object, Beau surprised himself by quickly upending it. It wasn't part of a rod. The underside was flat. Beau picked it up. At the height of the dome it was about a centimeter thick.
'Shit, it's heavy for its size,' Beau said. He handed it to Pitt, who hefted it in the palm of his hand. Pitt
