Comet! (an Ell Donsaii story #5 )

Though this book
can
“stand alone” it will be
much
easier to understand if read as part of the series including “Quicker (an Ell Donsaii story)
,
”  “Smarter (an Ell Donsaii story #2)
,
”
“Lieutenant
(an Ell Donsaii story #3)”
and “Rocket (an Ell Donsaii story #4)
.”
I have minimized
repetition
of explanations that would be redundant to the
earlier
books in order to provide a better reading experience for those
of you
who are reading the series.

This e
-
book is licensed for your personal enjoyment only.
 

P
reprologue

Allan Donsaii was an unusually gifted quarterback. He was widely recognized to be startling strong and
was a phenomenally
accurate passer. During his college career he finished two full seasons
without
any
interceptions and two games with 100 percent completions. Unfortunately,
he was never drafted
because the pro teams felt he was too small.

Kristen
Taylor
captained her college soccer team and was
extraordinarily
quick.
She rarely played a game without a “steal” and usually had many.

Allan and Kristen dated more and more seriously throughout college and
married
at
the end of their senior year
. Their friends kidded them that they were only marrying so that they could start their own sports dynasty
.

Their
daughter Ell did have
Kristen’s quickness, magnified by Allan’s strength and accuracy.
The
child
also
had a new mutation affecting the myelin sheath
s
surrounding
her nerves. Th
is
mutation produced nerve transmission speeds that were nearly double those of normal neurons.
Nerve impulse transmissions
being faster,
she had
much
quicker
reflexes. Yet the new myelin sheath was also thinner, allowing more axons, and therefore more neurons, to be packed into the same sized skull. These two factors resulted in a brain which had more neurons, though it wasn’t larger
and
a more rapid processing speed, akin to a computer with a smaller scale CPU architecture that enables faster processor speeds.

Most importantly, under the influence of adrenalin in a “fight or flight” situation, her nerves
would
transmit even more rapidly than their normally phenomenal speed.

Much
more rapidly
…

Getting ready to go
to work
on Monday
,
John
wondered what things would be like at D5R today?
Working on Ben’s team t
hey’d kinda finished up an entire series of projects on Friday. The rockets to the asteroid and to Mars. He s
upposed they’d be directing the small rockets
to travel
around, harvesting more specimens and porting them back. He was afraid that things would be kind of a zoo
out at D5R
after
the
NASA
announcement of what they’d been doing
yesterday
morning

John ha
d
received
a bunch of contacts from news media Sunday afternoon and
he
even answered
some
questions for a pretty reporter who’d shown up on his doorstep.
D5R had been completely shut down Sunday though. Sheila had sent out a message asking everyone to stay away, even if they had projects they
wanted
to work on. John figured there would be
about a
thousand reporters waiting in the parking lot at D5R this morning with questions about
exactly
what they’d been doing
at the facility
. It seemed unlikely that
any work
would get done. His
AI spoke in his ear.
“You have a call from Sheila at D5R.”

“Put her on.”

Sheila’s
recorded
voice said, “Hello, please be aware that D5R
’s facility
has been staked out by the media
.
As it
seems
likely that
the press will impede any
work
to be
done
today
, t
he investors have decided
to let things cool down for a few days before resuming
D5R’s normal activity
. Therefore they are granting
everyone at D5R four days off with pay.
”

John’s eyebrows rose. He
loved
working for this company!

“Of course you may do whatever you like with your time off
,
but D5R would like to invite you to a
celebration
of your accomplishments
. It will be held
on the private island
in the
Bahamas
where
D5R’s
first orbital flights and the
flight to the Space Station originated. If you’d like to go
,
meet us at the RDU airport for a charter flight
no later than
9
AM
with your overnight kit
and a swim suit
. You’ll be back
Tuesday
afternoon.
Significant others are welcome.
Please don’t
let
the media
know about this
!
Hope you decide to
come along!
”

John spun in place pumping his fist. He
really
loved
working for this company! Over his shoulder he shouted to his girlfriend, “Debbie, you’re
not
gonna believe this!”

Phil floated in the Space Station’s main module
,
gazing
down
at the world as it
rotated
beneath him. He shook his head gently in amazement that he was
actually
in space
this
far ahead of
the
schedule
he’d
been expecting
with NASA
. He’d been worried that he might be one of the
people
who stayed sick for days
in space
and it was a huge relief
to
fe
el
great.
He
loved
being weightless!

With a “whumpf” something big struck him from behind and he flailed a hand out to the grab bar to keep from hitting the wall. Ell’s voice came over his shoulder as she wrapped arms and legs around him giggling, “It sure is easy to sneak up on someone in this place. Didn’t hear my footsteps did ya?” She gave him a peck on the cheek then shoved off.

When
Phil
turned
to look
her way
she was spinning like a derv
ish in the middle of the module while
slowly drifting toward the door.
“No I didn’t!
” he raised an eyebrow,
“
I’m thinking there might not have been any footsteps?” Holding the grab bar he shook his head again. The
astronauts
who’d been here in the station for a while were pretty coordinated at moving around in the weightless environment
but
Phil
was still struggling to push himself accurately from one location to another without
missing.

Ell on the other hand?
Almost every move she made involved spins and flips like
she’d done
back
in her gymnastic
s
days. The astronauts in the station had initially been startled and tried to catch her, thinking she’d pushed off badly. She
effortlessly
dodged their
stretching
hands. By now they’d gotten used to her apparently reckless movements and begun watching in simple appreciation of
the
amazing athleticism
involved in flipping
across a module to arrive
perfectly at whatever destination she’d shot for.

Ell
grinned,
“Well that view’s pretty nice, I agree. But your chariot back home is about ready to go so you’d better shake a leg.” She grabbed the handle next to the module’s door
and eeled out toward the airlock.

As he followed, Phil mused that his view of her was pretty amazing too.

“Amelia,” D5R’s Lear Jet
that they’d
modified
in
to
a
spacecraft coasted in
to land on the island at
11:50
AM
on Monday. The edge of the runway was crowded with people and more were streaming over from the big patio at the mansion
. Quite a few were already in swim wear and walking
up from the beach.
As soon as
Amelia had stopped and powered down
,
the crowd surged
out
around the ladder as it folded out of the door.

To delighted cheers
,
Emil Taussan was first to appear in the door. He
looked weak from long
overstay
ing
his tour
i
n the
weightlessness of the
Space Station
.
He’d eagerly
taken Ell up on her offer to get back down to earth. Anya Stolchya and Jim Sasson came next. Though they weren’t as well known
,
cheers still rose.
Chuck had stayed on the station but
Zeke Potter and Phil came next and were cheered
soundly even
though the crowd didn’t really know
who they were
at all
. Then Rob Braun and Ell appeared in the door
to thunderous cheers and applause. A festiv
e
atmosphere surged as the crowd made its way
back over
to the big patio where the island staff had laid out an enormous buffet.

A couple of hours later Ell walked Phil and the other four astronauts out to the
unmodified
Lear Jet for
their
flight back to Houston. After she’d shaken hands with the
three
others she gave Phil a big hug and said, “Hey,
ya big lunk.
I’m glad you got to space a little early. I’d think there are going to be a lot more flights in years to come. You might be up there so much you’ll get tired of it!”
She leaned back and was surprised to see his eyes glistening.