My Europa: Part 7

These are first drafts, and are subject to considerable revision.  Not all parts will be put on the blog, so if you are interested, be sure to buy the complete story when it's available.

7

The calls in her head could be maddening. Thank goodness she had opted to receive most calls via a cell device on her desk, rather than through her cell implant.  That was reserved for communication with the Congresspersons, and staff, and not all the calls from the public.  A few had opted receive all calls through their implant, mostly younger staffers who seemed more receptive to the new technology.

Teresa wasn’t ancient, only in her mid-forties, but she had been there long enough to work with the Congress before it expanded, and staff became attached to Congressional districts, rather than individual congresspersons.  She originally came in as an aide to Michelle Lujan Grisham, a Democrat, and the sole representative of the Albuquerque district.  Now, the district was represented by three representatives, two Progressives and one Republican.  And it was her job to serve all three, and the needs of all the constituents of their district.

That took a little getting used to, and frankly, something she was still adjusting to.  You couldn’t help but gravitate to one Congressperson more than the others.  Congressperson Alfredo Barista was just friendlier, kinder, and more responsive than the other two.  Party was not as important as personality, as she was a dyed-in-the-wool Democrat.  Barista had even her wavering though.  After his first two terms, she began voting Progressive at the House level, and swore she would make it right by switching back to Democrat once Barista’s term limits were up.  She still voted Democratic at all other levels, including for Senator and President.

Did she have a crush on him?  Yes, but one she was determined to keep unrequited.  She respected the need to keep professional. Besides, she doubted she was his type.  Short, slender, but with a posterior that gave her a pronounced apple shape, she had a plain face, with a nose too big, and narrow eyes too close set.

She wondered what he did do, what with his wife tragically gone now, for over a year. So much improvement in medicine over the last few years, but not enough to save her.  She knew how special his wife, Darlena, was to him, but a year plus was a long time to spend in mourning.

She hoped he was finding someone, even if it couldn’t be her.  Someone for companionship, someone to get work and the past out of his head, if just for a little while. She didn’t care who it was, if it was someone that could help him.  Especially now, what with all this Europa mess.  He was taking on far too much of the burden for it on himself.

As she was readying to call it a day, she got a message on her cell implant.  “Teresa, the committee meeting is over for now.  I’m going to be coming by in a minute. Could you get something ready for me, even though it’s close to check out time?”

“Of course, sir!  Just let me know what I can get for you,” she answered.  For him, yes.  No problem.  To be honest, if it had been Republican Congressperson Bill Black, she would have done her best to blow him off, or refer him to another staff person.  Yes, the combined staff was a great theory, but sometimes less than perfect in real world execution.

“Get me what you can on Gregor Robotics, and on their CEO, Andrew Gregor.  Especially related to their most recent advances in A.I.  I know I could google some of this stuff myself, but I was hoping you could get me a head start, especially in any Congressional records.  You know my first level security clearance, be sure to use that.”

Teresa’s hands were already flying across the keyboard (again, she preferred this than the newfangled way of just talking to the computer).  “I’m already on it, Sir.”

“Thanks, Teresa!  I knew I could count on you!”

“No problem, sir!  Just in general, sir, how are the hearings going in there?  Making any progress?” Normally, she didn’t ask, but this whole Europa thing was consuming the whole country, and everyone was waiting for the response to be formed.

“All in all, to repeat an old cliché, it’d be easier herding cats.  Be there in twenty. Daisy.  Disconnect.”

“Daisy. Disconnect,” she repeated, ending the call.

She quickly gathered the information he requested, entering summary requests, to print out and consolidate the highlights.  It was a little bit difficult because he wasn’t sure what Barista was after, and was unclear how this tied into the Europa mission.  She recalled hearing about Gregor Robots recently.  But didn’t that have something to do with Sexbots?

Oh, well.  She diligently gathered what she could, and trusted the Congressperson Barista would have a good use for it.