My Wife Sent Me Away, So I Took the Whole Research Team

The screen lit up out of nowhere.

【The frontier posting's been decided. Hand your project off to Silas Chavez and leave tomorrow.】

The person sending it was my mentor. And my wife.

The Silas she meant had been in the group less than a month.

I stared at the screen in silence until it went dark, then lit up again.

【Did you see it? Reply if you did.】

I took a breath and typed back: 【I saw it. I'll go. But I want to bring a few people with me.】

【Fine, as long as they agree to go with you.】

I replied: 【Done.】

Since she said fine, I'd bring the entire group along.

1

"Andrew Dickerson, do you think the professor made a mistake?"

The lab juniors crowded around me.

"Yeah, Silas just got here. Putting him in charge of the project is just throwing research funding away."

"If you ask me, the professor's lost her head. She never does anything around here. This group would've fallen apart ages ago without you."

"I don't agree with you taking the frontier posting. I'm going to talk to her right now."

"I'll come too."

I was about to call them back when Silas appeared in the doorway.

"Andrew, the professor wants you in her office."

The words were polite enough, but the tone was all smug and looking-down-on-you.

"Sure."

I got up and headed for Winona Gilbert's office.

Behind me, Silas started giving orders.

"Don't you all have work to do?"

"This is a research group, not a gossip group. Get back to your stations."

I didn't look back the whole way. I pushed the door open without knocking and walked into Winona's office.

She sat behind the wide desk in a sharp women's suit, her hair pinned up.

We'd been married three years. Worried that a professor marrying her own student would look bad if it got out, we'd never made it public.

The whole group, no, the whole school, had no idea what we were to each other.

"Why didn't you knock?"

Winona looked up, frowning.

She didn't wait for an answer. She just waved a hand.

"Never mind. Sit."

She was always this forceful, in the group and at home alike.

I didn't sit.

Her frown deepened. "You're upset. Don't argue with me. I know you, that's exactly why I called you in."

She paused after that, as if choosing her words.

"You know the school's rules perfectly well. Every year someone gets sent to the frontier posting, and every mentor's group has to send at least one person…"

"So you picked me?" I cut in.

Winona nodded. "Yes. You're the best fit."

"And what about Silas?" I asked.

She said nothing, but the look in her eyes turned colder and colder.

I understood.

Silas had been in the group less than a month, and he was already the favorite in front of Winona. More favored than me, her husband of three years.

No.

Maybe he was more than just a favorite.

Winona tapped the desk twice with a finger.

"The posting is a line on your résumé. It affects whether you can stay on staff here. You shouldn't be resisting it."

"As for Silas, first, he doesn't have your depth of project experience. He needs to stay by me and keep learning."

"Second, he's too young. The posting is far, and the climate is a real problem. I'm worried he wouldn't be able to adjust."

I laughed. For the first time since we married, I called her by her name.

"Winona. The second reason is the real one, isn't it?"