smiled enigmatically, “I don’t believe we’ve met.”
He tilted his head, considering. She looked about eighteen to twenty, younger than he was by a couple of years. “Are you sure? Where did you go to high school?”
“Morehead City.”
He grinned, “My parents have a vacation home on Emerald Isle and my dad loves to go fishing on Jim Slip’s charter boat out of Morehead. I’ll bet we’ve run into each other somewhere down there one summer.”
Ell tilted her head, considering. “Maybe we did.”
“Did you go to college?”
She grinned again, “A couple of years.”
Cody was a little disappointed, thinking she’d gone to a community college somewhere. But who cares how far she went in school when she looks this good? He glanced at Roger. Roger was deep in a conversation with Jerry. “Do you mind if our AIs exchange contact info? I’d love to see you again sometime.”
Ell shrugged, “No problem.”
Emma, sitting on Cody’s left, dug an elbow into his side.
He turned to her and saw her grinning at him. He raised an eyebrow in question.
“Have you figured out who you’re putting the moves on yet, ‘Casanova’?”
Cody glanced up at his HUD. It said, “Contact—Ell Donsaii.” He closed his eyes and felt his cheeks flush. He opened them to see Ell grinning at him. “I guess now I know why you seem familiar?”
She quirked her lip, “Maybe?” She tilted her head in consideration, then frowned a little, “But we might have met in Morehead too.”
A little later Roger and Ell got up to leave for their dinner at the Mellow Mushroom. James said, “You’re not taking her someplace fancy now that you have a job? My God man, you’re not gonna impress the girl that way!”
Ell patted James lightly on the shoulder. “Turns out ‘the girl’ likes pizza better than she does those fancy restaurants.”
***
Ell stared up at her HUD, watching the results of a computation she had Allan, her AI, running to calculate the orbits of the planets of Epsilon Eridani. It held interest for her because E. Eridani was only 10.5 light years away and had a planet in the “habitable zone.” However, it also had a large planet with a highly elliptical orbit that likely made the habitable zone planet’s orbit unstable. Ell was trying to calculate from the known orbits and masses of the various E. Eridani planets just how long the planet had likely been in the habitable zone.
Someone thumped down in the seat next to her. “Whew, got here before the ‘bell.’”
Ell looked over, “Hey Gordon. You know, the way you keep arriving to class barely before it rings, you make it very difficult to avoid sitting next to you and hearing these awful name puns?”
He grinned at her, “My plan exactly.”
Ell rolled her eyes and checked her HUD.
“Hey my roomies and I are having a pre finals party Saturday night, you wanna come? You could be the ‘belle of the ball.’”
Ell glared balefully at him for a moment but then a grin broke out. “OK. Where and when?”
***
Ell arrived back at D5R after her class and headed immediately into the research area for the team’s Wednesday morning update meeting. No one looked happy. In fact their dejected expressions matched her own feelings. They’d been at this for weeks now with little success. For a moment she wondered if they had taken on an impossible task. Or had she assembled the wrong team? Maybe she was the wrong person to lead them? She turned to Stavos, “Ben, let’s start with you. Can you tell us something positive?”
Stavos twisted his lips a moment, then shook his head. “The good news is that we’ve got the micro assembler set up so that it can build a pair of rings made from entangled buckyballs.”
Ell’s eyebrows shot up in excitement. “That sounds great!” She frowned, “Why are you so down?”
“You know the entanglement isn’t terribly stable until we get them placed in your stabilization field. We actually have
He tilted his head, considering. She looked about eighteen to twenty, younger than he was by a couple of years. “Are you sure? Where did you go to high school?”
“Morehead City.”
He grinned, “My parents have a vacation home on Emerald Isle and my dad loves to go fishing on Jim Slip’s charter boat out of Morehead. I’ll bet we’ve run into each other somewhere down there one summer.”
Ell tilted her head, considering. “Maybe we did.”
“Did you go to college?”
She grinned again, “A couple of years.”
Cody was a little disappointed, thinking she’d gone to a community college somewhere. But who cares how far she went in school when she looks this good? He glanced at Roger. Roger was deep in a conversation with Jerry. “Do you mind if our AIs exchange contact info? I’d love to see you again sometime.”
Ell shrugged, “No problem.”
Emma, sitting on Cody’s left, dug an elbow into his side.
He turned to her and saw her grinning at him. He raised an eyebrow in question.
“Have you figured out who you’re putting the moves on yet, ‘Casanova’?”
Cody glanced up at his HUD. It said, “Contact—Ell Donsaii.” He closed his eyes and felt his cheeks flush. He opened them to see Ell grinning at him. “I guess now I know why you seem familiar?”
She quirked her lip, “Maybe?” She tilted her head in consideration, then frowned a little, “But we might have met in Morehead too.”
A little later Roger and Ell got up to leave for their dinner at the Mellow Mushroom. James said, “You’re not taking her someplace fancy now that you have a job? My God man, you’re not gonna impress the girl that way!”
Ell patted James lightly on the shoulder. “Turns out ‘the girl’ likes pizza better than she does those fancy restaurants.”
***
Ell stared up at her HUD, watching the results of a computation she had Allan, her AI, running to calculate the orbits of the planets of Epsilon Eridani. It held interest for her because E. Eridani was only 10.5 light years away and had a planet in the “habitable zone.” However, it also had a large planet with a highly elliptical orbit that likely made the habitable zone planet’s orbit unstable. Ell was trying to calculate from the known orbits and masses of the various E. Eridani planets just how long the planet had likely been in the habitable zone.
Someone thumped down in the seat next to her. “Whew, got here before the ‘bell.’”
Ell looked over, “Hey Gordon. You know, the way you keep arriving to class barely before it rings, you make it very difficult to avoid sitting next to you and hearing these awful name puns?”
He grinned at her, “My plan exactly.”
Ell rolled her eyes and checked her HUD.
“Hey my roomies and I are having a pre finals party Saturday night, you wanna come? You could be the ‘belle of the ball.’”
Ell glared balefully at him for a moment but then a grin broke out. “OK. Where and when?”
***
Ell arrived back at D5R after her class and headed immediately into the research area for the team’s Wednesday morning update meeting. No one looked happy. In fact their dejected expressions matched her own feelings. They’d been at this for weeks now with little success. For a moment she wondered if they had taken on an impossible task. Or had she assembled the wrong team? Maybe she was the wrong person to lead them? She turned to Stavos, “Ben, let’s start with you. Can you tell us something positive?”
Stavos twisted his lips a moment, then shook his head. “The good news is that we’ve got the micro assembler set up so that it can build a pair of rings made from entangled buckyballs.”
Ell’s eyebrows shot up in excitement. “That sounds great!” She frowned, “Why are you so down?”
“You know the entanglement isn’t terribly stable until we get them placed in your stabilization field. We actually have
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