Smarter (an Ell Donsaii story #2)
Read Smarter (an Ell Donsaii story #2) Online
Authors: Laurence Dahners
Table of Contents
Excerpt from Lieutenant (an Ell Donsaii story #3) a free teaser
Smarter
An Ell Donsaii story #2
By
Laurence E Dahners
Copyright 2012 Laurence E Dahners
Kindle Edition
Author’s Note
Though this book
can
“stand alone” it will be
much
easier to understand if read as part of the series beginning with “Quicker (an Ell Donsaii story).” I have minimized the repetition of explanations that would be redundant to the first book in order to provide a better reading experience for those who are reading the series.
This e book is licensed for your personal enjoyment only.
Preprologue
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 sheaths surrounding her nerves. This 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…
Prologue
Nearly a year had passed since that fateful second day at the Dallas Olympics. President Teller had agreed to give the commencement speech at the Air Force Academy. After Teller had spoken and the Cadets had received their diplomas in the traditional fashion, the Commandant of the Academy said, “Now I have the privilege of turning the podium back over to the President of the United States. Mr. President?”
The President stepped back to the podium. “I am sure that most of you will not be surprised to find that my next words have something to do with a most unusual cadet that you have in your ranks. Ms. Donsaii, ‘front and center’ I believe is the usual command at such times?”
Everyone waited patiently as Ell got up from her seat out in the audience and marched her way to the front. She approached the podium and to her surprise she suddenly recognized Chief Bowers and Jamal Assad seated among the dignitaries on the stage! Despite a mental hiccough she turned smoothly and saluted the President.
He returned the salute, then turned back to the audience and cameras. I’m sure you are all aware that Ms. Donsaii won
four
back to back individual gold medals in Gymnastics at the Olympic Games last summer before her participation was interrupted by a terrorist attack.” He paused for thunderous applause to surge up and gradually die down.
“Unless you were living under a rock, I’m sure you are also aware of the role she played in frustrating the plans of those terrorists. After escaping to warn us, she purposefully allowed herself to be recaptured by the terrorists and then single handedly killed or disabled eight extremists, thus saving the lives of twenty-eight Team USA athletes including one of your fellow cadets and Olympic Silver Medalist, Mr. Phillip Zabrisk.” The President paused again for tumultuous cheering to rise up and then gradually die down.
“Today I am proud to announce that, in the name of the Congress of the United States, I am awarding Ms. Donsaii the Medal of Honor ‘for conspicuous gallantry and intrepidity at the risk of her life, above and beyond the call of duty, while engaged in action against an enemy of the United States.’” He picked up a case from the podium, opened it and pulled out a ribbon with the medal on it. He held it up to the crowd for a moment, then turned and put it around Ell’s neck. Turning back to the microphone he said. “I believe the tradition is that everyone, regardless of rank or status is encouraged to salute Medal of Honor winners. I wish to be first to do so.” He made a creditable left face and rendered Ell a sharp military salute. Out in the audience Phil elbowed Jason, “Actually, I was the first,” he whispered.
The President turned back to the microphone, “Company, ten hut!” With a crash the military personnel on the stage and in the audience stood and came to attention. He turned again to Ell and said, “Present arms,” and he, as well as all the military personnel present rendered their sharpest salutes. “At ease, and please be seated.
“Now I suppose you think that we have rendered Ms. Donsaii sufficient honors for one day. However, there are a few things that you probably
aren’t
aware of. Ms. Donsaii is not only a physical phenom, able to perform athletically at a level no one had really dreamed possible, but she is undeniably a genius as well. By now many of you are aware that the Academy’s rules were bent to allow her to enter at the unheard of age of fifteen. Some of you may be aware that when she entered, she essentially tested out of the first two years of the academic curriculum here at the Academy. A very few of you are aware, though many of you will be unsurprised to learn, that she has completed the remainder of the academic coursework requirements for graduation in the two years that she has been here. She is still under the age of eighteen! Furthermore, I am able to announce that today the prestigious scientific journal Nature is publishing a paper that she submitted entitled ‘A Possible Mechanism for Quantum Entanglement through an Unperceived Dimension.’ I am assured by those who understand this science that this paper will stir up the world of physics like few papers since the publications of Albert Einstein more than a century ago.”
The complete stunned silence of the audience was palpable. The President grinned and reached into the podium again. “Thus it is my distinct, if unusual, privilege to award one more graduation diploma today, two years earlier than expected, to Ms. Ell Donsaii. And to inform her that she has offers from MIT, Cal Tech and numerous other schools to enter their graduate programs in physics. I also inform her that her country believes it is in the best interest of these United States that she attend such a graduate school prior to serving her time on active duty.” He turned to Ell and handed her the diploma, then saluted her once again, holding it while she returned the salute. They both held their salutes until he whispered, “I’m holding this salute until you drop yours first.” He winked. She dropped her salute and the stadium erupted.
Chapter One
Ell had mixed feelings as she entered the out-processing office at the Academy. She felt excited to get on with her life, especially with grad school. She hoped to join a good experimental physics team that would provide her with the tools to investigate some of her quantum theories. Yet she felt sad to be leaving behind the many friends among her cadet classmates who all had another two years to go.
Not unexpectedly, when she arrived at the office she found herself assigned to wait. It was frustrating that this couldn’t be handled over the net but in the military, formal events like comings and goings still required signing of actual papers with an obligatory period of “heel cooling.” As she looked around the waiting room she recognized that a number of other 3rd class cadets were also waiting which puzzled her. Then she realized that they were leaving the academy, taking advantage of the opportunity to quit without owing the active duty commitment which accrued as soon as you started your junior year.
Ell had just begun to wonder how much active duty commitment she would owe when a clerk called her name. When Ell sat down the clerk glanced up at her 3rd class shoulder boards and asked, “You’re seeking early departure?”
Ell said, “Well kind of. I graduated yesterday.”
The Airman took another startled look at her shoulder boards. “What? But you’re a 3rd class cadet!”
“Yes. But I completed the requirements for graduation so they gave me a diploma yesterday at the graduation ceremony.”
Now the clerk glanced at her nametag, “Oh! You’re Donsaii! I heard about that.” He looked up at her face for the first time, “I’m sorry, I should have recognized you from watching you in the Olympics. The 3rd class uniform threw me off. Let me have my AI pull up your file.” He stared at his monitor for a moment. “Ah, OK. Here, I’m sending it to you. You’re being assigned to detached duty for grad school. In addition to your five year commitment for the Academy you’ll accrue three more years of commitment for each year of grad school. I’m printing out the document for your signature now.”
Ell sat up straighter and scanned the document on her e-slate. “Don’t waste paper printing that. I won’t sign it. There must be other options?”
The clerk frowned as he stared at his monitor and mumbled to his AI. “Sorry Ms. Donsaii. This is the only option available in your file.”
“Well that just doesn’t make sense. In the first place I don’t think I should owe a full five year commitment for two years at the Academy and I’m not certainly not signing up for a three year additional commitment for each year of grad school. If I did four years of grad school I’d owe seventeen years! You were right with the first question you asked me. I’ll just sign up for early departure with no commitment at all!”
“Oh no. You can’t do that! You’ve graduated. You owe five years for that.”
“My original enlistment said that I’d only owe a commitment when I began my third year at the Academy. I haven’t begun my third year. The Academy can’t go back on that contract.”
The clerk’s eyes widened and he pulled up another document, presumably the original enlistment forms. After studying it for a moment he mumbled, “Let me get the Lieutenant.” He got up from his chair and beat a retreat to the back office. After a few moments he reappeared and motioned Ell into a back hallway.
Ell entered the office and came to attention. The chubby balding lieutenant behind the desk waved to the lone chair and Ell sat down across from him. “The airman says you’re trying to wiggle out of your commitment?”
Ell sighed internally. She hated confrontations like this and in the past might have just backed down, “No sir. I have two issues. First I don’t think I should owe five years commitment for two years of education here at the Academy and, second, I don’t want to accrue three years commitment for each year of grad school.”
The lieutenant’s eyebrows rose. “You’ve graduated. How many years commitment do other graduates owe?”
“They owe five years sir. But they spend four years at the Academy. I do feel it would be reasonable for me to owe a two and a half years active duty commitment.”