"I... well... no, we were supposed to go together, but I got lost along the way," Ellie said. "When I figured out where I was, I decided to just give up and go home. That was when that Rebecca Anne person started chasing after me."
"Shouldn't you have asked these questions the night it happened?" Dave asked. "Certainly you don't expect someone to remember every detail about a day that happened almost two weeks ago."
Ellie tried not to laugh at that. She did remember a lot about that night, but it was all centered around the truth of the night, rather than the lies she had to tell to get out of trouble. If she really had been skipping out of a party, she would have known the exact path she had taken between the dorm and the party and back again. She didn't think of it at the time, but she was glad that most people didn't have as good of a memory as she did.
"At the time, there was no evidence of a break in," Vern said. "Some has come to light since then."
"Don't you mean you've been digging some up since Rebecca Anne has gotten your ear? I'll bet it has more to do with her putting out than that I didn't."
"Ellie," Dave scolded. "There's no need for that. I'm sure this person is only trying to do his job. He's doing a terrible job of it, but that's not his fault. Not if that's the best he can do."
They both looked at Vern expectantly, waiting for him to say something derogatory or deny anything was happening between Rebecca Anne and him. Ellie didn't know for certain that anything was, but Rebecca Anne did seem the kind of person to try to use sex to get what she wanted. Vern was certainly the type of person to use his job to get sex; that wasn't even remotely in question.
"That's, um... That's all the questions I have at this time," Vern said. He seemed at a loss for what just happened, how his supposed victory turned into something completely different. "I would appreciate it if you would inform me the next time you leave campus."
"Now, that's not something that she really needs to do, now is it?" Dave asked. "I mean, she could go two blocks in any direction and end up leaving campus. Besides, you have no real authority here, do you? If you had proof of an actual break in, you'd have to call in the real police to make the arrest. Besides, don’t you have more important matters to look into, like this string of rapes? Or, is even that beyond your ability to look into.”
This comment took Ellie by surprise. It had been weeks since she had first heard about the rapes, and only the one time from Becky when they encountered the girl after the break in. That same girl who showed up alien the next week. She would have thought they would have caught the guy already, but given how Vern was working her case, she figured she shouldn't have. Her issues with the aliens, her almost obsession over looking into them, really had taken her away from the normal concerns of campus life. Only, this time, her obliviousness to this might have cost her so much more, if she hadn’t been trained to take care of herself.
“You just handle drunken disorderlies and petty theft, don't you?” Dave continued his berating of the man. “I wouldn't be surprised if you had already taken your suspicions to the real police and they told you that you don't have enough for them to get involved."
"Um... I'll be in touch," Vern said, ignoring the comments, as he turned around and headed out the door.
As the door closed behind him, Ellie turned to her dad gratefully. "Dad, thank you so--"
"Ellie, what the hell have you done this time?"
Chapter Thirty-Seven
The Girlfriend's Birthday
Ellie chose her words carefully as she explained what had been happening those past few weeks. She left out much of the crime portion, and the aliens portion, and the Alex feelings portion. Instead, she focused on the interactions with Rebecca Anne, Vern, and Sam. It was enough to take up another half hour, as Dave drilled her for more information than she was quite ready to offer him. Despite the fact that he was her father, the last time something like this had happened, it had fallen to her to save him. Since then, she had been mostly on her own. She tried not to remind him of that fact, but by the end of the conversation it really did come down to it.
By the time Ellie had gotten back to her room, it was almost eleven. Her tablet on the desk was already ringing, Mare's face front and center on the display. Ellie tossed her bag onto the chair, glanced over towards Becky's side of the room, then jumped up onto the bed. The call had been scheduled in advance and she had arranged to have the room all to herself for it. Besides, Becky had a class right after Physics, so she wouldn't have been back for another half hour at least anyway.
Ellie had wanted to change for the call, perhaps into something more sexy. She had even debated answering the call in the buff, though that would have required way more nerve than she had. But, with the distraction of Vern and her father, she didn't have time for much more than straightening her blouse and taking several deep breaths to steady her nerves before hitting the button to answer the call.
"Hey, there, birthday girl," Ellie said.
"Hey, yourself," Mare said. Ellie took a few more calming breaths when she noticed that Mare hadn't dressed up for the call either. She was wearing her Air Force t-shirt that she was usually wearing for their video calls. Ellie could make out a couple of people walking behind Mare, and the background was different than the usual wall in her bunk. She figured they didn't have the privacy on that side of the call that she would have liked. "I was beginning to think you stood me up."
"Sorry I'm late," Ellie said, smiling, though the clock on the wall still said 11:01. "I had to talk to my dad for a bit before I could make it back here."
"Yea, it's alright. I couldn't make it back to the bunk either. We got the rest of the day off to watch the launch. Can you believe they make me work on my birthday?"
"Do they even know it's your birthday?"
"Well, no, not really," Mare said, smiling. "I mean the guys in the office probably do, but I haven't really brought it up much around here."
"Happy Birthday," came a shout in the background of her side of the call.
"Yea, I can see. How inconsiderate of them not to care. Did you get the package?"
"What package?" Mare asked.
"Oh, uh, I had ordered a delivery for you. I wasn't sure... Maybe they're being held up in security. I told them it was the academy and everything, so they should have given more time to... I really wanted you to have it during the call."
"Naw, I'm just kidding," Mare said. "It came in the middle of class this morning." She pulled the bundle of balloons into the frame of the call. They were very pink and each said "Happy Birthday" on them. "Thanks for this. You shouldn't have."
"Open the box. There was a box, right?"
"Yea, there's a box. I was a little worried about the box though. You didn't get me anything too expensive or extravagant or anything like that, did you?"
"No, don't worry about that. Trust me, you're going to love it."
"Okay," Mare said, cautiously.
She let go of the balloons and they fell off to the side and out of the frame again. Instead of moving the box into frame, Mare picked up the tablet she was using and started moving. Ellie was rewarded with an awkward view of her chest, properly covered by the t-shirt, as Mare moved to wherever the box was. Once there, Mare spent a few seconds setting the device back up before sitting in front of the camera again. The box was off to the side, with several stamps all over the otherwise blank surface. Ellie couldn't make out what most of the stamps said, though the one closest to the camera said Perishable.
"Is it safe to open?"
"Yes, and you should probably open it now, or it'll go stale."
"Stale?" Mare asked.
She pulled the box over a little, filling the view, before pulling the top of it off. Once the top was off, the rest of the box fell away, revealing a pile of bagels. The top of the pile had candles set in them. Ellie tried to count them, but she could only make out ten or so. There were supposed to be eighteen. Five seconds after the box had fallen away, the candles lit themsel
ves, which was a new trick they had come up with barely a year earlier. From what Ellie had read about them, it was something similar to how trick candles used to work.
"Happy birthday," Ellie said, again. "It's a bagel cake."
"Wait, bagel cake?" Mare asked. "As in a cake shaped like a bagel?"
"No, no, no. It's a cake made of bagels. They're real bagels. I had a local bagel place put it together. There's no cake in there."
"Not that I have anything against cake, it's just..."
"They're making you a cake, aren't they?"
"Well... yea. Some of the guys... I mean after the balloons and everything."
"And, yet, I know you better. Bagels are the way to your heart, at least through your stomach."
"Exactly," she said, smiling.
"Now blow out your candles before the wax gets all over the bagels."
"Okay, okay." Mare moved the pile of bagels in front of the camera. The pile didn't really look much like a cake besides in size. She closed her eyes for a few moments before opening them again and blowing out the candles. Spittle went flying at the camera, a small dollop of it hitting it. Ellie touched the spot that it made in the display, as if that tactile connection could bring them closer.
"What did you wish for?" Ellie asked.
"I wished that you would tell me what's going on with you."
"What?"
"I know there's something. You've been distracted this whole month. And don't say it's schoolwork, I know you breeze through it way too easily to ever give you stress. You're smarter than Sarah, and she actually tries at it."
"Well, college is a lot different than high school, especially different from Crowbarland. It's just... it's a lot to adjust to, is all. Plus, I miss you."
"I'm right here. But, that's kind of the problem. Even during these calls, and I love these calls, don't get me wrong, but you're always distracted. Always somewhere else. I know the whole long-distance thing was going to be hard, but, not this hard."
"God, I wanted to surprise you and visit you today," Ellie said. "I really did, but I had a test that I couldn't miss. Stupid Dad, scheduling a test on your birthday. Part of me thinks he did it just to keep me from visiting you."
"Naw, the professor isn't like that. He likes me... or, at least, I think he does. He does like me, doesn't he?" She actually seemed a little worried about that, not that Dave's opinion of her would have any impact on Ellie's.
"Yea, I think so. You don't really come up much during those few conversations we have these days. We're both busy, him with school work and me with..."
"With what, exactly?"
"Like I said, school work."
"No, he's busy with school work. You, not so much."
"Helping my friends with their school work?" she asked more than said. "Are you... jealous?"
"What? No, of course not. I know where your heart lies." Mare didn't sound so sure about that, though.
"Well, of course you do," Ellie assured her. "It lies with you. Eternally you."
"Aw," came a chorus of voices from off screen.
"That's so sweet," someone said.
"So glad I didn't go with a naked video date," Ellie mumbled.
"Wait, was that an option?" Mare asked. "If I had known that was an option, I would have made sure to do this in the barracks."
"I had been considering it."
"Don't stop on our accounts," came a shout from off screen.
"I'm only doing it here because we're watching the launch from here," Mare said. "It's too much of a walk between the barracks and here, and all the good displays are here."
"And all tuned to the pregame show," said someone off camera.
"You're sure you're alright, though?" Mare asked.
"Yes, I'm sure. It's just exams and helping my friends and dealing with life in the dorms. Nothing for you to worry about."
Mare looked at her through the display, her expression still locked in concern as she looked at her. She seemed to be trying to discern if there was anything else to worry about. Ellie did her best to keep her expression stoic, not letting the stress over the aliens in her midst show. She wasn't sure how successful she was, but Mare decided to drop it.
"Okay," she said, nodding. Mare seemed to relax a little, letting it go, as she scooped up one of the bagels from the top of the pile. She pulled the crust away from the bagel, revealing the fresh bread inside. After sticking the slice of crust in her mouth, she started to unravel the rest of the bagel, reveling in the spongy texture and delighting in the smell. "It's fresh, too," she said, with her mouth full.
"Only the best for my girl," Ellie said, smiling.
Chapter Thirty-Eight
The Launch
After a few more minutes of talking on Skype, Ellie headed downstairs to the TV room. It was one of the few uses it was getting that year so far, other than the occasional groups that met there, none of whom actually used the TV. The room was already packed, with the launch just a few minutes off. Fortunately, Ellie's friends had saved her a spot near the front.
"Over here," Alex called out, waving her hands towards Ellie.
She made her way through the crowd that had accumulated in the room. Most were just standing there, staring at the big screen TV in the front of the room. Just a small handful of people managed to get a seat near the screen. The two couches and one lounge chair that made up the TV area were all filled with her friends, while the folding chairs they had used for the support groups there were set up and circled around the inner area. Alex was over on the couch to the side, a spot in the middle left open between her and Becky. On the other couch were Eric, George, and someone that Ellie didn't recognize. He did look familiar, but that might have just been the similarities that she easily saw between him and Eric. The new guy was in the middle, between George and Eric. The lounge chair, though, had been taken over by two people that Ellie was relatively certain she had never seen before.
As she passed through the crowd and made it to the inner circle, she looked around at the faces surrounding her. With a great measure of relief, she quickly verified that not a single one of the large group collected there was an alien. She sat down between her ex and her roommate, wondering if it was in any way ironic that the aliens seemed to have no interest in a rocket launch.
"You made it," Alex said, sounding surprised.
"Of course," Ellie said. She pulled out her tablet, waving it around at her friends. "Say 'hi' to Mare, everyone."
"Hi, Mare," George said, readily, waving emphatically at the tablet even when it wasn't pointed towards him.
"Hi, everyone," Mare said, waving from the tablet. "Becky, nice to see you as always."
"Hey, there, Mare," Becky said. "How's everything by you?"
"Still Colorado," she said, her usual joke. Despite her growing up in rural Canada, Mare found Colorado generally boring and depressing, spending about as much time off base as she had away from the school.
"Anyway, that's George and Eric on that couch over there," Ellie said, pointing the tablet to the group over there.
"And this is my brother, Red," Eric said, pointing to the guy next to him. "Don't mind his quiet demeanor. Usually you can't get him to shut up."
"Hi," Red said, though he never took his eyes off the TV.
The TV wasn't showing much, just a shot of the rocket on the launch pad. A clock was counting down the last ten minutes until launch, though it wasn't in any way synced with the clock in the upper right corner of the screen. Even as Ellie glanced at it, the countdown halted for a few seconds before starting up again. The word Mute took up the upper left corner, which explained why the TV was so quiet.
"Anyway, Becky you already know," Ellie said, putting her attention back to her girlfriend. "And this is, um, Alex."
"Hi," Alex said, beamingly. "I've heard so much about you."
"And I've heard... absolutely nothing about you," Mare said. Ellie was still pointing the tablet towards Alex, so she couldn't quite make out
the look on her face. That didn't stop her from trying, craning her neck around so she could see the screen. "Actually, I seem to remember Ellie mentioning an Alex at one point."
"Yup, that's me," Alex said. She sounded almost apologetic, though she shot Ellie a look that suggested that she was anything but.
"Interesting," Mare said, stretching out the word into an accusation. "Anyway, this is my crew." Ellie flipped the screen back to her so she could watch as Mare introduced her friends. She tried to remember each of the names, but they were mostly just a blur of faces as Mare circled around the group. It seemed like the room over there was as crowded as it was at U of C; the only difference was that Mare actually knew all of their names, while Ellie just knew her own friends around her.
"Dude, something's happening," came a shout through Skype. "Turn it up."
The view on the tablet's display suddenly shifted, showing the TV in front of the group. Theirs looked newer and more expensive than the one they had at U of C, though the screen was much smaller. In response to the shout, whoever had the remote in their room turned the mute off of the TV and the tablet started to echo the commentary on their own screen.
"... colonists now. It looks like, yes, we have Michael Azerian in front. While his specialty is geology, he is also one of the team's doctors. Next, we have the computer specialist, Cassandra Mendoza. It's easy to tell her apart from the other woman on the team by her height. We're still too far away to see much of anything here, but we can just see Sarah Carmichael, hiding between Cassandra and John Smith, the team captain, who is taking up the rear of the group. These colonists have been training for this for almost a decade, working together to get ready to be the first team to go to the red planet. Hopefully, provided the success of this launch and trip across the cosmos, many other teams will follow them, making Mars our second home."
"That is so awesome," George said. "I so wish I could have been one of the first to go."
"Don't we all," Mare said.
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