Defiant (an Ell Donsaii story #9) (12 page)

Next Ell tapped into one of the waldoes that ETR had landed on the moon and leased to NASA. As opposed to the waldoes in space, which only had jets on their lower half, these had legs so they could walk around. They also had jets strong enough to fly them from location to location in the weak lunar gravity. As she looked out through the waldo’s eyes, she realized that it must be near one of the poles. Long shadows stretched out from the rim of the shallow crater the waldo was walking through. Actually, bounding would be a more accurate description of the waldo’s mode of progress in the low gravity.

Suddenly a voice came over the waldo’s link, “Hello! I see I’ve picked up a hitchhiker in my little trek across Amundsen crater. Who’s there?”

Ell’s eyes widened,
Phil!
“Well, Lieutenant Zabrisk, this is your old girlfriend stalking you. You doing anything on the moon besides just walkin’ from place to place?”

“Ell?”

“Got it in one.”

“How did you find me?”

“Lucky accident. I’ve just been logging in to see what D5R’s waldoes are doing. I happened to hook in to your data feed when I wanted to see what you NASA boys were doing on the moon. How’d you know I was watching?”

“Oh, we have an open feed for the public and quite a few people log on to watch what we’re doing. We get a notification if someone is ‘eyes on’ so we can talk to them if we’re not busy. Good PR.”

“You get married yet?”

“Uh, next month. Would you like to come? I’m not very smart about whether it’s OK to invite old girlfriends to your wedding.”

“Hah! I think that’s pretty frowned upon. But…” Ell had a little catch in her voice, “I wish you well, even if you did break my heart.”

“Oh,
don’t
you say that. If there’s
even
a chance you’d marry me…”

Ell interrupted him, “
Don’t
go saying something you’ll regret.” She sighed,
“Better if we don’t spend too much time wondering about what might have been. Tell me what you’re doing. Surely they don’t have you highly trained astronauts just walking waldoes on the moon?”

“Well… not usually. You know, you screwed the moon up for me too.”

“What, just because you’re here as a waldo instead of in person?”

“No, I always dreamed that I was going to help colonize it. Then we’d mine the moon for various exotic metals, Helium 3 for fusion reactors and water for colonization. We were going to build a mass driver to launch the stuff we mined into orbit and it would be
so
cool. Then, some damn woman came along with these ports that make it cheaper to get water from earth, metal from asteroids and power from space. We don’t need any of those vaunted moon resources I was going to dig for, so there isn’t any reason to build my colony. The space habitats someone’s building mean that we probably don’t even need the real estate to solve overcrowding on Earth. Who wants to just sit around on the moon doing nothing?”

“So what
are
you doing?”

“Well, we’re exploring. Seeing if there actually might still be something on the moon worth doing now that the mining idea is a bust.”

“Really? And you’re going to learn that leaping across Amundsen crater?”

“No.” Phil sounded embarrassed, “I fell and broke one of the lifting rocket nozzles on this waldo so the only way to get it to the pole where I’m supposed to be sampling the lunar ice is to walk.”

“Oh, that’s rich. So all those accusations you were making against me a minute ago were merely an attempt to distract me from the fact that you’ve been breaking our waldoes?”

“Um… yes Ma’am,” he said contritely…

***

Washington DC— President Flood has conceded the election to Senator Edith Stockton. Though the presidential race was relatively close, President-Elect Stockton’s Democratic Party has also achieved a substantial majority in the House and a small majority in the Senate. This unusual loss by an incumbent president is being attributed to uncertainty among working class Americans over the new PGR and port technologies. These technologies have resulted in extensive upheavals in the business world as some former economic powerhouses have been shuttered and new industries have exploded onto the scene. Many voters apparently felt that Flood did not do enough to diminish the economic disruptions wrought by these changes.

Though the market penetration of these technologies is limited as of yet, almost everyone can see the writing on the wall and fear is rampant. New industries based on this science are replacing existing plants that are being closed; however, workers’ anxieties regarding the changes have been enormous. Retraining for new jobs is expensive and personnel that get the new jobs often complain that they aren’t being paid as well as they were by their previous employer.

Recognizing the depth of popular concern over the new tech, Stockton took what many felt to be a politically risky tactic by criticizing Ell Donsaii, the genius responsible for discovering the principles involved. Though she’s well-loved and highly respected, many seem to feel that she
also
should have done something to keep their lives from being overturned.

Despite the apprehension over their effects on employment, demand for the products of these new technologies is at an all-time high…

Shan opened the door to his parent’s home and called out, “Happy Thanksgiving. Your guest of honor is here.”

In response, Shan’s dad Malcolm called, “Ell, welcome ye guest of honor!”

As Shan came around the corner into the family room, he placed a hand on his chest, “Oh, I’m hurt! The prodigal son returns and his family welcomes his wife instead?”

Malcolm raised an eyebrow, “Shouldn’t have married such a pretty girl then.” He gave Ell a little hug. Morgan and Lane had risen from their spots on the couch and they came forward to greet Shan and Ell as well.

Shan looked seriously at his father, “Hey Dad?”

Malcolm turned from watching his family greeting each other, “Hmm?”

“Uh, I
never
call Raquel, Ell, unless I meet her in her role as Ell somewhere in public. Don’t want to get a bad habit that leads me to say the wrong name someday somewhere.”

Shan’s sisters and mother had also turned to listen and his mother said, “Oh, that’s a good idea.” She turned to smile at Ell, “Well,
Raquel
, come on in. I’ve got some hot chocolate brewed up for you.” She winked, “And you
must
congratulate Ms. Donsaii on her recent Olympic wins for us…”

At dinner Malcolm turned to Ell, “What are the results of the new election going to mean for your company?”

Ell looked at him, “You mean, because Stockton won after bashing the new tech in general and Donsaii in particular toward the end of her campaign?”

Malcolm nodded.

Ell shrugged, “I don’t think the election will affect D5R and its subsidiaries very much. We’ve already been slowing the release of the tech per an agreement with the government. They may ask us to slow it further, but I don’t think they—or anyone really—wants us to stop production.” She grinned and, rubbing her hands together, said in a low voice, “We’ve got ‘em addicted to the new technology.”

Shan said, “We’re more worried about the Blaustein bill. Ell Donsaii may soon be a criminal.”

They drew back in surprise, “What, why?”

“That bill is targeted specifically at her.” Shan subtly patted Ell on the arm. “She’s one of very few citizens who’ve ever had a congressional bill aimed directly at them as an individual… But, anyway, it demands that she turn over contact with intelligent alien races and the technology for visiting other stars to the Ementhal committee. Ell doesn’t think that’s ethical or safe.”

They discussed Ell’s concerns and her intent to refuse to comply with the new Blaustein law. No one had any brilliant solutions.

After the conversation had made its way around to several other subjects, Morgan turned to Shan and Ell, saying, “Hey, I’m going to be in Chapel Hill Saturday. You guys want to go out to dinner?”

“Sure.” Ell’s eyebrows bobbed, “You want to go to the Velos concert that night?”

Morgan grinned, “Velos is the band a certain someone likes to dance to, right?”

Ell rolled her eyes, “A little bit, yeah.”

“Well I’d surely like to see that!”

“
That
isn’t going to happen. I’ll be there as Raquel with my new husband. No crazy dancing. But the music’ll be good.”

“I’m up for it.”

***

Elsa Fuentes looked around the schoolyard. She didn’t see her friend Gloria who she usually ate with. Her eye caught on someone squatting by herself over against the side of one of the buildings. It looked like it might be Gloria, so Elsa headed that way. As she got closer, she saw that it was Gloria, “¿Qué estás haciendo aquí sola (What are you doing here by yourself)?”

Gloria didn’t say anything, but a little jerking motion told Elsa her friend was sobbing. “What’s the matter?” Elsa asked worriedly.

Gloria rolled a knuckle in the corner of her eye, “My father was laid off from his job,” she said with a little sob.

Elsa didn’t really understand what a job was, but she knew they were important and hard to get. She knew that, if your parents didn’t have jobs, your family would be very poor and often hungry. Her eyes widened as they darted over and around Gloria. Her friend didn’t have a little paper bag like she usually brought lunch in. Elsa squatted beside her, “Let’s share our lunch.”

“I don’t have a lunch to share with you,” Gloria whispered.

“Well then, we’ll just have to share my lunch.” At a sob from her friend, Elsa said, “It’s OK, my mama always packs more than I can eat anyway.” She handed half of her ham and bean sandwich to Gloria.

***

With most of the students at home for the Thanksgiving weekend, Chapel Hill was quiet as Ell, Shan and Morgan enjoyed a nice dinner at Waquet, a new restaurant on West Franklin Street. After their meal they walked the few blocks to Vic’s where, despite the long line of hopefuls, they got in with three of the four tickets Ell had purchased right after they came out several months ago. Velos had become much too big a name for a small venue like Vic’s, but continued playing there occasionally; partly because of Gordon and Vic’s friendship and partly because, like many other bands, they liked playing there in order to get the excellent live recordings that Vic produced for them. The fact that big names were anxious to play and record there had allowed Vic to charge exorbitantly for admissions and he was doing very well indeed. He’d long ago reimbursed Ell for the investment her “crazy aunt” had made in his club.

Morgan looked around, “Wow, I was expecting a concert hall. This is more like a big bar.”

Shan said, “Yeah, but the owner is a fanatic about acoustics. Notice that, even though the place is packed, the noise isn’t overwhelming. When the band starts to play, you’ll find that the sound is a lot cleaner than what you’d hear in a big echoing auditorium.”

As they got themselves some drinks and wandered back out into the crowded main area of the bar the sound of a violin started sawing gently into the air. Morgan turned to Ell, “I don’t remember violin on any of Velos music?”

Ell shrugged and looked puzzled, having not heard violin in any of Velos music either.

To their amazement a spotlight slowly faded in to highlight Gordon sitting on top of the big speaker stack at the right side of the stage. He had his side turned to the crowd and was playing the violin that they were listening to. Moments later a roll on the drums brought in the rest of the band and Gordon leapt down off the speakers into the crowd. Someone held a microphone in front of him and his gravelly voice began a song. Ell excitedly realized it was a new song that Velos hadn’t uploaded to the net yet.

Morgan turned to ask Ell if she’d heard the song before and found herself looking at a guy who had moved in between herself and Ell. He looked familiar, though she didn’t recognize him at first. Her eyes widened as she recognized AJ from their ski trip last winter. “AJ?”

He grinned at her. Then Ell peeked around him at Morgan, eyes twinkling.

Surprised that, despite the loud music, he could still understand her she asked, “What are you doing here?”

“Uh, I got a job at D5R.”

Morgan glanced around, “Is your dirtball friend around here? Uh… what was his name? Jordan?”

AJ winced, “Yeah, Jordan is correct. Just like your sister figured out, he never had a job at D5R. I’m not sure where he is.”

“And you
did
have a job at D5R?”

“Not back then. I applied just before I graduated. Actually, I called up a friend of mine.” He cast a thumb back over his shoulder at the grinning Ell, “Raquel hooked me up with the HR department.”

“Wow!” Morgan gave Ell a puzzled look. “What made you decide to come out here?”

Ell leaned back around AJ, “He’s stalking a girl.”

Morgan’s eyes widened, “You moved here because of
me
? I don’t even live here!”

AJ shrugged ruefully, “I figured I had a better chance of running into you here than in Colorado. At least I’m in your home state. Besides, D5R is a pretty cool place to work and I’ve got Raquel to help arrange for me run into you occasionally.”

Morgan turned back to watch the stage a moment, mind working furiously. It all seemed a little surreal. She did feel a little like she’d been stalked, but she
had
really liked AJ. It seemed unreal that someone would take a job all the way across the country in the mere hope of meeting a girl he hardly knew and hadn’t parted on the best of terms with.

Trying to decide if she should feel stalked or flattered she glanced at AJ again. She did like him, she thought… It had been Jordan she couldn’t stand.

When Velos finished their concert, the four friends headed to the Carolina Coffee Shop “for dessert.” Morgan had loved Velos’ music which sounded even better in the excellent acoustics of Vic’s place. To her surprise, people had danced and Morgan had really enjoyed dancing with AJ. She’d taken a turn dancing with her brother who, as always, was superb.