Rocket! An Ell Donsaii story #4) by Laurence Dahners

around. You new?”
    Ell grinned at him. He had freckles and curly reddish hair. “Yup. Just taking this one class ‘cause I’m interested in ET’s.” She raised her eyebrows at him.
    Gordon gave her a look that combined a grimace and a query, “This is a pretty tough class to be taking just because you’re curious! You can read about ET’s on the net.”
    She tilted her head. “Maybe so, but I’d like to get a deeper understanding than that.”
    “Why not just audit the class over the net then?”
    “’cause then I wouldn’t get to have scintillating conversations with fascinating people like you. My name’s Belle. What’s yours?”
    He put out his hand, “I’m Gordon. A real Southern Belle ‘eh? I never thought I’d actually meet one.”
    “Hah, ha. Didn’t yo momma nevah tell you not to make jokes about a person’s name? I’m sure I’ve already heard all the ‘Belle’ jokes you can possibly think of!”
    “Oh ho! Did you just ring the starting ‘bell’ on a challenge?”
    Ell rolled her eyes but was saved from having to respond by the arrival of Professor Norris. The Professor introduced himself and outlined the class on planetary systems before starting his first lecture. His speaking style kind of droned on but Ell found the topic fascinating. He was assigning some reading to be done for the next class as the bell rang.
    Gordon looked wide eyed at Ell, “There’s the ‘bell!’”
    She grinned and lightly punched his shoulder, saying, “I can see I’ll have to watch who I sit next to from now on.”
    As she left the building she had her AI contact her car and send it to pick her up. She saw Mary getting up from a bench in the lobby to leave when she did.
     

Chapter Four
     
    Cape Canaveral—NASA and ILX Corporation today announced that the latest Vulcan 5 rocket, carrying supplies for the International Space Station, has also failed to launch successfully. Once again, one of the new, super efficient motors trumpeted by ILX apparently exploded, driving the rocket off course and requiring it to be destroyed by internal charges. More and more concern is being expressed about the supply situation at the Station…
     
    Roger and Ell walked into West 87 together and started toward the booth where the physics grads customarily hung out. Emma looked up. “Hey you two!” She bounced up out of the booth to give Ell a hug. “Am I ever gonna see one of you without the other again?” She was amused to see they both looked a little embarrassed.
    Ell said, “Well, you know we work together now, so if we’re gonna go slumming at West 87 with our degenerate friends, it only makes sense to ride together.”
    “Besides,” Roger said, “I’m buying her dinner in a transparent attempt to influence my new boss and the only restaurants I know anything about are here in Raleigh.” He shrugged, “If we’re gonna be in Raleigh on a Friday night, of course we’ve gotta drop by West 87 and visit you guys.”
    They sat down and caught up with their old friends from NCSU. They were introduced to a couple of new grad students.
    Cody, one of the new students wound up sitting next to Ell. He felt like there was something familiar about her but in the flurry of introductions he hadn’t really caught her name. She was hot! He wondered if she and this ‘Roger’ guy were in a committed relationship. He asked her, “When did Roger graduate?”
    “Last December.”
    “And you two work for the same company?”
    Ell grinned at him. The grin lit up her face and he found her even more attractive, “Yep.”
    “Is he your boyfriend?”
    “Well,” she considered, “we’re very good friends.” She tilted her head, “and I’m pretty sure he’s a boy…”
    Cody, happy to hear that she didn’t sound committed to Roger, glanced around the table. The others were all lost in their own little conversations. He turned back to Ell, “You seem familiar to me. Do we know each other from somewhere?”
    She