Smarter (an Ell Donsaii story #2) (6 page)

So much for whether he’d be friendly.

He squeezed and she squeaked, then he held her out at arm’s length, “Hey! You look good. I spent some serious time wondering if I’d ever see you again.”

Ell grinned crookedly up at him for a moment, then with a serious look she said, “Hey, thanks for looking out for me. I know my mother really appreciated your help.”

“Well, I didn’t do much. But I’m hungry, so I’m willing to have you buy me lunch for whatever I did do.”

“Much more importantly than what you did, I appreciate what you were willing to do. I can’t believe you were ready to fly up to Boston and look for me!”

“Hah! You’re my classmate! Of course I’d do whatever I could to pull your ass out of the fire…” he looked down, “Well, I guess you aren’t actually my classmate anymore…”

In a small voice Ell said, “Can I be your friend instead?”

“Always! Well,” he mused, “except for when I’m remembering that you’re the only one to ever really kick my ass in a fight…”

Ell punched him in the arm, “Someday you’re going to
have
to forgive me for that. I was scared.”

Phil looked down at the floor and scuffed a toe, “Jus’ not right, fifteen year old girl beatin’ up a full grown man… Jus’ not right.”

Ell punched him again, then grabbed her duffle and they headed off to lunch. There they talked about her kidnapping and escape and whether the Chinese would have another crack at capturing her? Ell kept hoping that the conversation would stray back toward their relationship but Phil focused entirely on her situation and what they could do about it. He thought witness protection was a great idea but that it was sad that she might have to stoop to disguising herself.

Long after they’d finished their hamburgers and had been asked repeatedly and eventually, pointedly, by the waitress if they “needed anything else?” they finally got up and left. Ell left a painfully big tip when she paid for their lunch. Phil walked her to Ell’s mom’s car which had driven up to get her and for a moment she thought he might give her another hug or even, maybe, a kiss? But, he just shook her hand and slapped the car as it left.

As Ell’s car rolled away, Phil shook his head. Why
didn’t I at least give her another hug? Damn it, I like that girl! I couldn’t be afraid of her could I? Although
, he thought,
just about anybody with any sense
would
be afraid of her.

Ell huddled down in the seat of the car and swallowed around the lump in her throat.
It was great to see Phil. Why am I so sad?

After a few minutes on the road Ell’s AI said in her earpiece, “Dr. Smythe from MIT is calling.”

Ell’s voice croaked a little, “Yes?”

“Ell, we were very impressed yesterday and we’d like to offer you a position as a graduate student in our program. Are you OK? Your voice sounds kind of ragged.”

Ell cleared her throat. “Uh, yes sir. I’m fine.” She pondered a moment about whether to tell Smythe what had happened, then decided honesty was best. “It’s been a little stressful. I was kidnapped last night by a group that apparently wanted me to work on my quantum theories for them.”

“What! My God! I assume that you were rescued or I wouldn’t be talking to you, but where were they going to take you?”

“Out of the country. They had a plane chartered out of Newark’s Liberty Airport. Probably to China as they all appeared to be Chinese.”

“Were they captured? Are you safe now?”

“Well, they were captured and I’m probably safe from them. But, if they were supported by a sovereign state, I’m told that they might just send other operators.”

“That’s terrible! Do you have police protection?”

“Well, not right now. And they might not come after me again for months; I probably couldn’t be followed around by police for the years it would take to actually be effective in preventing another attempt.”

“My God! Are there any other plans for how to keep you safe? Is there anything I can do?”

“We’re talking about something like witness protection, where I’d be disguised and assume another identity to throw them off.”

“Oh! I guess that might work. I’m sure I could work it out so that we could admit you under an alias.”

“I’m worried that, since they kidnapped me in Cambridge, MIT is one of the first places they would look for me in a disguise. I hate to ask, but could you help me with references for my alias at another institution?”

“Ouch! You really don’t think you could work with us here?”

“Maybe? Depending on what they find out about my kidnappers.”

“Well, if you have to go into hiding, I have a good friend right in your home state of North Carolina that I could talk to for you. He’s an irascible SOB but very good at experimental quantum studies. I can probably exert some influence with him to take you. I’d hope that a means for me to talk to you about your theories could still be set up, even if you’re in hiding?”

“Oh yeah! I’d really like that.”

They spoke a little longer on inconsequential matters. When Ell hung up she started thinking about physics with some excitement again. But then Allan told her she had a call from Chief Bowers.

“Yes Chief?”

“Hello Ell. I’ve just finished talking to the U.S. Marshall’s office and they agree that you could be a candidate for witness protection if you are willing to testify against the people who kidnapped you?”

“Sure!”

“OK, I’ve made you an appointment to meet with the Marshals’ office in Raleigh tomorrow morning.”

“Achhh! I’m just driving home from Raleigh now. But sure, I’ll be back tomorrow morning, just have them send me a time and location.”

***

The next morning Ell walked into the Federal building on New Bern Avenue in Raleigh and found the Marshal’s office where she was introduced to Gloria Sanchez, a Witness Protection specialist.

Ms. Sanchez said, “Normally, when we have someone come into witness protection we plan on their ‘becoming someone else” and never returning to their original identity but I’m betting that you still want to be ‘Ell Donsaii’ sometimes?”

“Oh,
yes
Ma’am. Is that going to be a problem?”

“You bet it is. Every time you show up as ‘Ell Donsaii’ there’s a chance someone will trace you back to compromise your new identity. I would really recommend against it but this is a free country. I can tell you not to do it but there’s nothing to keep you from going against my advice.”

“Well, I’ll try to keep it to a minimum. Can you give me advice on how to lose ‘tails’ when I’m about to change from one identity to another?”

“Sure,” Sanchez said reluctantly. She launched into a description of measures Ell could take.

The next thing was to work on her new identity and its necessary documentation so they sat down to pick out a name.

“Can I pick a name myself?”

Gloria said, “Sure, but I think it’s better if we pick a name that you’ll notice if someone calls out to you by your new name. Something like ‘Ellen Symonds,’ which I really like because the first and last names share syllables with your real name. That means that if someone calls out to you, you are more likely to take note and respond correctly.”

“Ellen Symonds.” Ell said, trying the name out for feel.

“Ell Donsaii, Ellen Symonds. Close but not too close.”

“OK.”

“OK, I’ll talk to Jim about getting the documentation started and be right back.”

While she was gone, Ell thought about how weird it was going to be to going by a new name. She said the name over and over in her mind trying to get used to it.

Gloria came back in. “Let me have you stand up so I can look at you and we can think about disguising you.” After Ell stood Gloria had her turn around several times. She asked, “Any thoughts on how you want to look?”

“Not really. My current look attracts a lot of unwanted attention from men.”

Gloria snorted, “You think you’re too cute?!”

“Well… kinda,” Ell blushed, “I hope that doesn’t sound stuck up?”

“No, I just never thought I’d have a woman ask me to make her less attractive. I thought our genes were hardwired against such requests.”

“Well, you don’t need to make me hideous.”

Gloria leaned back and rubbed her chin, “Hmmm. Your slender build gives us a lot more options. I suggest we disguise your body with some padded underwear to make your hips and butt bigger. You’ll have to buy some larger pants and skirts. Then you wear tight sports bras all the time to make your top appear smaller. That combo alone will significantly reduce the attention guys give you. Skin bronzers to make your coloring darker and we can darken your hair too. Finally we’ll change your nose a little.”

“Wow! All that?”

“Sure, no half way measures.”

They searched the Net together and ordered some padded underpants in Ell’s size to be delivered to Gloria. No disguise materials should be delivered to Ell’s addresses. For now they tucked some pieces of a torn up t-shirt into the pants Ell had on.

Gloria took Ell in the bathroom and moussed her hair into a spiky do with a mousse that darkened her hair to brunette. They applied washable bronzer to all of Ell’s exposed skin but Gloria told Ell she’d need to do the rest of her skin when she got home so pale areas couldn’t be accidentally exposed and give her away. Then Gloria took a mold of Ell’s nose and built a silicone bump for it, carefully coloring it to match her new darker skin tone. She skin glued it in place and then showed Ell how to apply makeup to conceal it. Gloria had to teach Ell a lot about makeup since Ell had rarely ever worn any and she would need to wear a moderate amount to make this disguise work.

When Gloria was done, Ell looked in the mirror in astonishment. Gone was the reddish blond girl of northern European descent. In her place was a swarthy Middle Eastern woman with a hooked nose and a spiky butch hairdo who was definitely “bottom heavy.” Ell wasn’t enamored of the new look but had to admit she hardly recognized herself. She’d always thought that she wasn’t vain, but found the “big bottom” and the nose somewhat embarrassing.
Well, you thought it would be nice if men didn’t stare at you so much!
she thought to herself with some chagrin.
Problem solved!
She chuckled.

Gloria said, “What are you laughing about?”

Ell just shook her head and gave Gloria a crooked grin, “I’d rather not say.”

When she got home later that afternoon, Ell drove directly to the diner where her mother waited tables in the summer and went in to take a seat in her mother’s section. Her mother came over with a menu. Per Gloria’s instruction she pitched her voice a little higher than usual and used her best imitation of a nasal New York accent to order a cherry Coke and an order of French fries. Ell noticed the slight frown of disapproval her mother couldn’t suppress regarding her nutritional choices. Nonetheless, she was gratified that her own mother didn’t seem to recognize her.

When Ell’s mother arrived back at Gram’s house she was startled to see the girl from the diner sitting at the table. “Hello, what are you doing here?”

“Hi Mom, thought I’d sleep here tonight.”

“Ell!?”

“Yup, the disguise lady is pretty good, huh?”

“My God!”

The next few weeks were a whirlwind. Ell’s Mom and Jake were separated as required by North Carolina law prior to getting divorced. Ell provided emotional support wherever she could.

Ell practiced her “New York” accent until it became pretty natural and she could turn it off and on effortlessly. She practiced putting her nose prosthetic and makeup on until that became a fast, second nature task. She never again appeared as Ellen Symonds outside the house in Morehead City though.

Ell drove to Raleigh and picked up the permanent parts of her disguise from Gloria as well as documentation for “Ellen Symonds.” This included a New York birth certificate, passport, social security card, driver’s license, college transcript from UVA and faked results for the SAT. Ell was bemused to see that she was suddenly old enough to drink. Some special software was installed in her AI so that it had a divided personality, Allan for her old life and “Fred” for Ellen Symonds. Gloria had similar software on her AI allowing her to serve as “Ellen’s” widowed mother and only surviving relative should anyone try to contact “Ellen Symonds’” family.

While she was in Raleigh she interviewed at NCSU’s physics department with Dr. Al Johnson, whom Dr. Smythe had recommended her to.

“It is very late to be interviewing for a spot as a graduate assistant Ms. Symonds. If it weren’t for the good things that Dr. Smythe had to say about you we wouldn’t even be talking.”

“Yes sir. I’m sorry but I have had some traumatic events in my life that made it impossible for me to go to MIT as I had planned.” It wasn’t quite true that Ell had “planned” to go to MIT, but Dr. Smythe had actually suggested the fib to Ell as a means to cover the fact that she should have applied to NCSU long ago.

“What happened?”

“I’m sorry, I really can’t talk about it.”

“Hmmpf. That’s what Smythe said. I really don’t like taking you on without even knowing what happened to your spot at MIT.”

“I’m so sorry. If you don’t feel you can offer me a spot without the full application process, I guess I’ll just have to apply next year?”

“No, no. Smythe assures me that I’ll be sorry if I don’t take you on. I don’t know just what he sees in your record that makes him think you’re going to be some kind of superstar?”

“I’m not sure either sir. I do hope that I can live up to his, and of course, your expectations.”

“Can’t even answer that one, eh? OK, I’ll bite. I’m intrigued enough by the expectations that Smythe has, that I’ll invest
some
time in you. But, I warn you now, if you don’t live up to expectations you’ll get the boot so fast your head’ll spin, understood?”

“Yes sir.” Ell said quietly, not sure if she liked this guy. She wondered once again whether if she could feel safe at MIT in her new disguise? Smythe was so much nicer! Of course MIT had Dr. Ferguson who she hadn’t liked, but at least she wouldn’t have to work with him all the time.