When the cargo bay of the shuttle was empty, one of the workers loaded up two defective Power Acquisition Systems. The IFTT would upgrade and test the units before returning them to active service. Addalyne remembered those units from her days on the Yutaka III. It appeared that the engineering problems with the units were not completely resolved as of yet.
When the two pilots were ready to fly, Addalyne headed for the restroom to pee. She was not going to go through the same experience as last time she flew. During that trip, she was certain her full bladder would explode. She had learned her lesson the first time.
When Addalyne teleported from the shuttle to the teleportation room at IFTT Headquarters, she thanked Kathy and Wanda for the transportation and then headed to her room to change clothes and check her messages. When she stepped into her room, she saw the flashing red light on the communicator. She checked her message and discovered that her professor had scheduled an introduction lecture for her and the other six people in her class. The professor knew Addalyne was traveling, so he scheduled the lecture for the morning after her return. She checked the date and time carefully to insure she had read the time correctly and then set her alarm to get her up an hour early tomorrow morning.
Once Addalyne had taken a shower and dried her hair, a knock on her door startled her. She quickly put on a robe and stepped to the door to see who was there. To her surprise, she saw a man standing there who she did not know. She pushed the button to activate the intercom and said, “May I help you, Sir?” The man said, “Hello Addalyne. My name is Alex. I am one of your classmates and I just decided to ask you to join me for dinner and a drink at the pub tonight. I realize you do not know me, but I would like to correct that tonight at dinner. I will be paying for the meal and drinks, since I am proposing this to be an official date. Would you be willing to join me?”
Addalyne pushed the talk button and said, “I think I will join you, however, I just finished taking a shower and I am standing her in a towel. Could you give me ten minutes to dress?” Addalyne heard the man laugh as he said, “Drop the towel to the floor and slide into your flight suit. I will be leaning against the wall out here in the hallway; hoping security does not come along and arrest me for stalking a female student.” Addalyne giggled as she did what he suggested. She dropped the towel to the floor, slid into clean underwear, cared for her pits and then slid into a clean flight suit. When she was dressed, she opened the door and said, “You can come in now.” When Alex stepped into the room, the first thing he saw was the wet towel on the floor beside the door. He laughed and said, “I see you did in fact drop the towel to the floor as I suggested.” Addalyne stepped into the bathroom, finished combing her hair and then stepped up in front of Alex. She looked him in the eyes and said, “I am looking forward to my first date here on the Regnieloc Asteroid. Do I look presentable?” Alex took a deep breath, looked up and down Addalyne’s body, and said, “Addalyne, you look simply beautiful. I am pleased that you can join me tonight. I hope you like to dance. The pub has an incredible live band playing tonight. I think you will enjoy their music.” He held out his arm and waited for Addalyne to slide her arm into his, and then they headed down the hallway towards the first floor where the pub was located.
When they stepped into the pub, heads turned to see the new girl and her date enter the pub, arm in arm. As they walked towards an empty table, a voice that Addalyne recognized drew her attention. When she looked to see who was yelling her name, she saw Kathy and Wanda waving at her. Then they motioned for her and Alex to join them. Alex turned towards the table and Addalyne followed. When they arrived, Addalyne introduce Alex to the girls and then they sat down. Once their drinks were at the table and they had ordered some food, Alex asked Addalyne to dance with him.
The four new friends laughed and enjoyed each other’s company until around twenty-one hundred hours. Then Alex said, “Addalyne, you and I have an early class tomorrow. I suggest we get some sleep or the professor will be pissed when we both begin to yawn during the lecture.”
As Alex walked Addalyne to her quarters, he said, “Thank you for joining me tonight. I enjoyed your company and your friends, Kathy and Wanda. They are both incredible people. Maybe we can do this again sometime.”
When they stepped up to the door of Addalyne’s room, she leaned forward, kissed him and then stepped back. She said, “I would like to join you again, maybe we could do this again on a Friday night when we don’t have classes or work the next day.” Alex smiled and said, “That would be nice. I will see you in the morning.” As he turned to walk away, he turned back and asked, “You do know where the lecture hall is located, don’t you?” Addalyne said, “Yes, Kathy and Wanda took me on a tour of the building so I could find my way around. I spent some time in this facility awhile back, so it did not take long for me to find my way around, again. Thanks for asking.”
***
Addalyne stepped out of the classroom and took a deep breath. She leaned back against the wall and tried to steady her emotions. As she stood there, thinking back on the last three months she had spent on the asteroid, Alex stepped out of the classroom, took a deep breath and slowly let it out. Then he backed up against the wall and slid down until he was sitting on his butt on the floor. Addalyne giggled at him and said, “Can you believe what just took place? We just completed the last test that we will ever have to take. If we passed this test, our names will begin with the word, Doctor: Doctor Addalyne Yutaka. The words have a nice ring to them. I think I will enjoy my new title.”
As the other classmates stepped out into the hallway, they all began to talk at the same time. Soon Alex said, “The professor said our test results would be posted on the monitor in the engineering department within the hour. I don’t know about any of you, but I am going down there right now. I cannot wait much longer for the results. I am about to explode with excitement.”
When they stepped into the engineering department, Addalyne’s boss was sitting in a rolling desk chair in front of the monitor. He spoke to everyone, addressing each of them by name. Then he said, “I expected all of you. I put on a fresh pot of coffee and there are hot cinnamon rolls in the cafeteria. Please help yourself and then roll some chairs up while we wait for your scores.”
As they waited for their test results, Addalyne could not sit still, she wiggled in her chair, she chewed her fingernails, and she slowly swiveled around in her chair. She tapped her foot on the floor, she stood up and then sat back down, she giggled even when no one had said anything, and then she headed off to the kitchen for another cinnamon roll and more coffee. When she returned, Alex said, “Girl, you will be so high on sugar that you will not sleep for the next week. Let me help you finish that cinnamon roll.” Addalyne willingly shared the roll with Alex, giggling as she leaned forward and licked the frosting from his lips. Alex just rolled his eyes and hoped Addalyne would survive the long wait. The girl was about to have a nervous breakdown if the test results did not come in soon.
They had waited for over an hour before a message from General Williams appeared on the monitor. The message read, “I wish to congratulate all six of the engineering students for their steadfast determination to complete their studies in record time with the highest scores the IFTT has ever seen. I am pleased to announce that all six students completed their final tests with perfect scores. I had first believed that one of our students had answered one of the multiple-choice questions incorrectly; however, Professor Howell’s research proved that there were two correct answers to the question. I wish to offer my sincere best wishes and congratulations to this engineering class. Thank you all and have a great career.”
Everyone sat quietly in their seats, trying to let the general’s words sink in. Once they realized that they had all aced the test, they all talked at once. After a few minutes, Alex stepped up to Addalyne and kissed her hard on the lips. Addalyne heard the sound of those around her gasp over Alex’s boldness. Addalyne giggled and said, “That was a nice kiss.
Shall we head to the pub for a glass of wine to celebrate this wonderful day?”
The celebration ended early. Everyone was hungry, tired and emotionally drained. When Alex headed off to his quarters, Addalyne made up her mind to knock on his door. She waited in her quarters for a few minutes and then headed up the stairs to his room. When she knocked three times on his door, she heard Alex push the intercom button and ask who was there. Addalyne stepped in front of the camera and said, “Just drop the towel to the floor and open this door. I would like to talk to you.” When the door swung open, Addalyne stepped inside. Alex was standing behind the door and a wet towel was lying on the floor beside him. He slowly closed the door and stood in front of Addalyne. She smiled and said, “You are a good boy. You did exactly as I asked. For that I will reward you.” When she stepped up close to Alex, she could feel his excitement. When her fingers moved down his belly, she heard him take a deep breath. Addalyne said, “I think we should continue this discussion in the bedroom.”
Chapter 7 – Defense of a Thesis
When Addalyne checked the duty roster in the engineering department, she found her name, along with her five classmates, scheduled to spend the next three days preparing for the oral defense of her thesis.
She had worked on the thesis for many years and had written up the document and presented it to a computer science engineer at IFTT Headquarters for review. The woman had carefully edited the document for inconsistencies and errors. When that engineer completed her edit, Addalyne made the corrections suggested to her and paid to have the thesis printed again.
Addalyne wanted a second review of her work, so she paid a chemical engineer to edit her thesis. She hoped to get a completely different viewpoint from this engineer since the man knew little about robotic engineering or demordian implants. It turned out that she was correct. Allowing the chemical engineer to edit the thesis gave her some insight as to the questions those who would sit for the oral defense of her thesis might ask. The man wrote notes and a list of questions that he thought might come up during her defense. His assistance was very enlightening.
Addalyne had paid the two editors very well for helping her. Each edit had cost her a week’s salary. However, she realized that it easily took the engineers a week to read and research her thesis, so paying them a week’s wage to edit her work was money well spent.
When Addalyne and her classmates arrived at the classroom, the professor asked to see each of his student’s written theses. He laid them on top of his desk so each of the thesis covers was visible. He then stood back a few feet and looked at all six of the documents. Some of the written thesis had carefully designed covers but two did not. He called his students up to his desk and said, “Each of you take a tablet from the corner of my desk and a pencil. I would like each of you to study all six thesis covers and then choose the one you like best. On the first line of your tablet, list the title of the one you chose. Below that entry, I would like you to take a few moments and write down what you would like to change on your own theses cover to improve it. Remember this; first impressions are very important when you are dealing with learned educators. Especially, if you sit before a dissertation committee that actively challenges a student during the oral defense. I feel it my duty to warn each of you. Be prepared or you will fail miserably.”
When the students had taken their seat, the professor asked, “Have any of you had your thesis edited by professionals?” Three raised their hands along with Addalyne. Then he pointed to one of the students who had raised his hand and asked, “I would like you to tell me who edited your work and also tell me if you have a signed statement from that person stating what work they performed and what changes they suggested.” The male student told the story about the editing done on his thesis and explained that he did have records of the editor’s work.
Then the professor pointed and said, “Addalyne, please give me details of your professional edits.” When she had completed her detailed explanation, the professor said, “Give me names of your editors, Addalyne. I want to hear names, dates and details about their worthiness to edit a document as important as your dissertation.” Addalyne opened her notebook and read off the names of her editors and their education.
By the time the professor had completed questioning each student, he asked, “Addalyne, which thesis did you choose from the ones on my desk to be your favorite?” Addalyne looked into the man’s eyes and said, “I chose my own thesis, Professor.” The class saw a smile form on the professor’s face, possibly the first one today. Then he said, “Good choice, Addalyne. I hope all of your classmates have the title of your dissertation listed at the top of their notebook.” The professor walked to each student’s desk and looked at the first line on his or her notepads. When he returned to the front of the class, he said, “Congratulations class, you all chose correctly. Now that you know how to prepare an attractive cover page, I suggest you all do so before tomorrow’s class.” The professor picked up Addalyne’s thesis, placed it on the copy machine and made five copies of the cover. Then he handed Addalyne’s thesis to her and a copy of her cover to each student.
After the class walked out of the classroom and into the hall, Addalyne spoke and said, “You all must understand that I began writing my thesis before I graduated from engineering school. I have had five years to get it to this point. I am sorry that the professor made such a fuss over it.” One of the female students said, “We have no excuse for our work not being as perfect as yours. We need to all work hard if we intend to defend our theses this term. I need to go to the cafeteria and get some food and lots of coffee, and then lock myself in my quarters for the night. I have a lot of work to do before class tomorrow. I think our professor is quite willing to help us if we work hard and make an honest attempt to get our thesis up to par.”
Addalyne shouldered her backpack and followed Sandra to the cafeteria. She planned to write a draft of her oral defense and insure it was perfect in every respect. Once she finished writing the document, she planned to sit down in front of the web camera on her laptop and do the oral presentation just as she would do on the day of her defense. She realized that being confident and speaking with perfect diction was paramount to holding her listeners attention and interest. If her presentation were weak or dry, her attackers would make her life a pure hell. She knew the material in her dissertation well. Now, all she had to do was attack her own material and satisfy her critics that her way of thinking was the only reasonable explanation.
After eating her meal, Addalyne purchased six packs of instant coffee and two cinnamon rolls to take back to her room. When Addalyne swiped her wrist across the point of sale scanner, the cashier chuckled and said, “You are the third person to purchase coffee packs and rolls to take with them. I suspect we have some finals tomorrow or some of you are preparing to defend your dissertations.” Addalyne giggled and said, “We are preparing to defend. I need to spend the night working to be ready for class tomorrow. Our professor is very knowledgeable and extremely willing to help us, but only if we come to class prepared.”
When Addalyne stepped into her room, she decided to shower and get into her sleeping clothes. She did not intend to answer the door or her message machine, so she did not care how she looked. She knew that around midnight, the energy management system in the building would turn down the heat. She also realized that an hour or so later, she would be freezing and have to go to bed to stay warm. She intended to work as long as possible before succumbing to the need for warmth and sleep. As she dried her hair, she stepped up to the heater on the outside wall and turned the temperature control up to twenty-four degrees Celsius. She hoped to warm the room enough that she could remain comfortable for a few hours after the energy management system reset the temperature control to a night setting.
The six men stripped her clothing from her and bent her forward over a chair. She heard the sound of the cat o’ nine tails flying thru the air just before it struck her body. The first strike of th
e whip created a series of stinging red stripes on both cheeks of her butt.
Addalyne woke with a start. She sat straight up and prepared to defend herself from the six men who had disliked her thesis and were determined to teach her a lesson for wasting their time.
As her mind slowly returned to reality after waking from the disturbing dream, she reached her fingers down to her butt to make certain the dream had not been real. She was certain she could still feel the burning sensation on her skin. She slid back down under the covers, but could not fall asleep. Her subconscious mind was unwilling to revisit the vivid nightmare that woke her earlier; the sting of that whip still haunted her.
On the third day of the class, Addalyne submitted three copies of her completed dissertation to her professor. He smiled as she laid the manuscripts on his desk. He looked up at her and said, “I was just notified that General Williams selected me to sit on the dissertation committee. I have studied your dissertation with great care and find it exciting and well written. However, I will have a list of questions that will challenge your true understanding of the demordian implants; I hope you come prepared for a strong defense.” Addalyne smiled and said, “Professor, are you aware that I am a True Blood Demords and that I was implanted at a very young age. I believe you will find my skills at defending my dissertation up to your high standards.” The professor looked deep into Addalyne’s eyes before breaking eye contact with her. Then he smiled and said, “I accept your challenge, Addalyne. Now that I am aware of the resources you chose to guide the preparation of your thesis, I will insure my questions will challenge your philosophical understanding of the use of demordian implants in the design and operation of robotic systems.” Addalyne smiled and said, “I would like to thank you, Professor, for the guidance you have provided. I am certain the changes I made in my thesis, due to your knowledge on the subject, will improve my ability to properly defend my work. Thank you again.”
The Chronicles of Addalyne Yutaka Page 9
