Allotropes

by Laurence Dahners

  Ell smiled at her, “Very cool!”

  The waiter returned with Viveka’s Coke. “Are you ready to order?”

  Ell smiled up at him, “Sure.” She looked at Viveka, “Let us buy you dinner. You can tell us about Delhi?”

  Viveka gulped again. She’d been taught that it was polite to refuse such charity, but she couldn’t pass up this opportunity! “Yes Ma’am. Thank you Ma’am.”

  After they’d ordered food, Ell didn’t ask about Delhi. Instead she looked searchingly at Viveka, trying to guess her age. “This is, what, your first year at ITT?”

  “No Ma’am. This is my last year.”

  “Really! You only look about eighteen or nineteen to me.”

  Viveka ducked her head. “They moved me ahead some grades when I was young.”

  Shan watched Ell studying the girl appraisingly and wondered what his new wife was thinking. He felt somehow that he should be angry about this girl horning in on his honeymoon, but actually he wanted to hear more himself.

  “What are you going to do when you graduate?” Ell asked her.

  Barely above a whisper Viveka said, “I hope to work for you Ms. Donsaii.”

  Shan missed the implication of Viveka saying “Donsaii,” but Ell’s eyes widened. After a pause she grinned. “How did you know?”

  “When that man grabbed you, your shirt came up and I saw your real skin.”

  “Ah,” Ell mused. “And you put two and two together?”

  Viveka nodded, taking a sip of her drink. She choked, pulling it away and staring at it.

  “Is there something wrong with your Coke?”

  Viveka said, “I don’t know. I’ve never had Coke before.”

  Ell’s eyebrows rose, then she grinned, “Try another sip. I predict you’ll like it once you’re used to it.”

  Viveka did. She took the glass away and stared at it with a smile. “It is good!”

  Ell looked at her as if considering, “What do you know about deposition of diamond coatings on materials?”

  Viveka shrugged, “The exact methods are almost always proprietary so not available to the public. However, in general most diamond synthesis is done by chemical vapor deposition at low pressures using methane as the carbon source. The process forms both the diamond and graphite allotropes. Free hydrogen radicals introduced into the process etch away the graphite that’s formed so that only the diamond allotrope is left.”

  The waiter brought their dinner. Once they had begun eating Ell said, “What about graphene synthesis?”

  Viveka frowned, “No one’s synthesized graphene in quantity yet,” she shrugged, “that I know of anyway.” She tilted her head and got a faraway look. “I think that to make it in quantity will require a weightless environment and a copper substrate… but of course I can’t be sure.”

  Ell smiled at her, “I think my company will have a job for you when you finish your degree. What can you tell us about sights we should see after the Olympics are over?

  Viveka arrived back home that Saturday evening her head whirling. Donsaii had tried to put money in Viveka’s account to secure a “right of first refusal of employment” for when Viveka graduated. Horrified when she found out Viveka didn’t have a bank account she’d instead deposited $10,000 US into Viveka’s temporary phone’s account and insisted Viveka open a bank account tomorrow. Realizing that Viveka didn’t have a network account either, she’d taken Viveka’s address and promised to send an AI headband like Donsaii wore with a connection to the net. Viveka had whispered that she didn’t have an AI to hook it up to, but Donsaii had said it would come already attached to an AI. Apparently this would be through one of the PGR connections based on Donsaii’s theories.

  Viveka felt as if she had won the lottery…

  Chapter Nine

  Delhi, India—August 3: Donsaiiternation shot through the sports world again yesterday! At the Dallas Olympics eight years ago Ell Donsaii performed nine completely new gymnastic elements which were, as per tradition, each named after her. In the ensuing eight years, no one has attempted even a single one of those “Donsaiis” in competition. Fedor Yacrosky did attempt one of the floor elements in practice but he was injured on his landing. However, yesterday Donsaii again treated the world to the spectacle of eight of those “Donsaiis” being performed. She did this at the team finals in Olympic stadium. She executed them just as perfectly as she had in Dallas. The Donsaii she didn’t perform was her vault, and this was because she performed a new, even harder vault! In addition Donsaii performed one completely new element in each of the other three events. So, four more “Donsaiis” have been added to the list of gymnastic elements that other gymnasts may strive to perform… but probably never will…

  On the vid, Venta said, “OK, we’re waiting for the competitors to enter the stadium for the all-around competition. Everyone is wondering whether Donsaii will have even more surprises for us in this part of the competition. No one doubts that she will win the gold in the all-around after the performances she turned in yesterday during the team competition. Team USA absolutely dominated the team competition based solely on Donsaii’s performances. It has been pointed out that, of course, if Donsaii had entered as a team all by herself, that team would have won the gold. The question now will be whether her teammate Sylvie Jensen might be able to win silver in the all-around.

  “There’s Coach Natya Kolmenya followed by Sylvie Jensen and, my God, Amalie Robertson! Donsaii isn’t with them! Could something have happened to her? Was she injured yesterday?”

  Eva Escanescue said, “Radin, if Donsaii was injured yesterday I didn’t see any evidence of it. Her last routine, the floor exercise, was perfectly executed just like all her other events. She didn’t limp when she and the other Team USA girls went up to collect their gold medals. She seemed to be fine and in good spirits at the post event interviews with the press.”

  “Yes, she did Eva. I must point out that at those interviews she once again humbly deflected as much praise as she possibly could onto her teammates. Every question asked of her somehow finished with her speaking of how well one of her fellow athletes had done and how hard they had worked. She even had compliments for several gymnasts from other teams. Perhaps Donsaii’s ill today? I for one will be heartbroken if we don’t get to see any more performances from her these Olympics. Maybe she’ll be back tomorrow for the individual events…?”

  ***

  “Cheryl and I would like to welcome those of you who are just now joining us live at Track and Field’s first morning session. Right now we’re watching the contestants line up for the first heat of the women’s 400 meters. Team USA’s most promising contender for this event is Seychelle Eventide who you will see in lane four. She is doing her customary pre-race dance. It’s a little shuffle that she does in exactly the same fashion before every race. Kind of a good luck charm I suspect.”

  “Yes, Chuck, many of the elite runners have their little rituals, pieces of clothing or jewelry that they wear. This has been Seychelle’s ritual for some time now.”

  “OK, all the runners are in their blocks, and down into position. There’s the gun, and they’re off! Eventide is off to a good start, making up distance on some of the outer lane competitors. Usana Morris of Trinidad is closing up in lane seven. Ana Schmidt of Germany is doing surprisingly well. Several of the weaker runners are falling behind as expected… Here they come around into the final straightaway… It’s going to be … Morris, Eventide and Schmidt who will advance to the semifinals.

  During preparation for the second heat, the announcers discussed some of the more celebrated runners that would be competing in later heats.

  The camera swept back to the starting line. “In the second heat for the 400, Team USA is represented by Rosa Richards in lane eight. Richards won the World Championship three years ago but her star has faded recently. She’s now considered the weakest contender for Team… Wait a minute, that isn’t Richards in lane eight! Richards has black hair and the
girl wearing the USA colors in lane eight is a blond! There must have been a last minute substitution! But to my knowledge none of the Team USA sprinters are blond. Wait, Richards’ name just dropped off the stadium display board… it’s blank for now… Oh! Now it says ‘Donsaii!’ Could this be a relative of gymnast Ell Donsaii?

  “No, the stadium board says ‘Donsaii, Ell.’ How can that be? Ell Donsaii’s currently competing over in the gymnastic stadium! Wait! I’m just now hearing that she didn’t show up for the gymnastics all-around competition. The camera’s zooming in. Yes, that is Ell Donsaii in lane eight!”

  On screen some of the other runners appear to be upset. One was arguing with the official. He shrugged and motioned her back to her lane. She threw up her hands and stepped into her blocks.

  The announcer recovered from a speechless pause. “What is a gymnast doing on the track?! How did she get a spot without competing? This is crazy! I know there have been these rumors that she ran faster than Michael Fentis in her run-up to the vault back in the Dallas Olympics, but surely no one took those seriously!”

  Cheryl interrupted, “Chuck, as we all know Michael Fentis has had a burr under his saddle about Donsaii for a long time. In an interview a few months ago he spewed some vitriol over the claim some have made that she runs faster than he does. He’s been saying that such claims were ridiculous and that if she could actually run at those speeds she should enter a meet. Perhaps she’s taking him up on the challenge?”

  “Well Cheryl, if that’s the case, I’m disappointed that the Olympic committee is allowing this kind of grandstanding. We all understand that she’s an amazing athlete. Fentis’ contentions aside, Gymnastics is a sport and she is the world’s very best. But she’s completely untested at any level in Track and Field competition. No matter how famous she is, she shouldn’t be allowed to assume the slot of an actual contender without proving her bona fides first!”

  Cheryl said, “Well, I’m inclined to agree with you, but it looks like she’s going to run in this heat, whether we think she should or not. They’re in the blocks now.”

  “Yes, and the woman to beat would be Jamaica’s Deva Fenton in lane four. They’re up… There’s the gun and they’re off! Oh, Donsaii got off to a terrible start! Fenton is blowing up the track, rapidly gaining ground on several of the other runners who started ahead of her due to the stagger. Sarter in lane seven has nearly caught up to Donsaii as they round the turn to the first straightaway. Oh, this is going to be a joke! Fenton is doing very well, only a little behind world record pace. Sarter is doing much better than expected. Chang in lane one looks to be out of the race with a pulled hamstring, limping badly. Donsaii’s keeping up with Sarter for now, down the straightaway on the backstretch but soon Sarter will be gaining ground because of her inside track. Here they go into the turn, Fenton in lane four is gaining, astonishingly Donsaii is keeping up with Sarter even going around the outside of the track. However, she won’t be able to keep that up. Lane two’s Tedesca looks to be gaining back a little of what she’d lost to Fenton. They’re coming into the last straightaway and Fenton’s in front, Tedesca’s in second, Sarter third and a surprising Donsaii is fourth. Wait! Just when I expected Donsaii to fade she’s passing Sarter! Can she keep it up? Yes! She’s crossed the line third so Donsaii, Fenton and Tedesca will be guaranteed spots in the semis. I couldn’t be more surprised if Donsaii’d grown spots!”

  “So, do you think we’ve just seen an amazing performance on the track by a gymnast?” Cheryl asked, “Something that we should be astonished to have seen—to have her show us that she can compete at an elite level in a completely different sport than her primary? Or did Donsaii hold back in the heats, like top of class runners who don’t want to use themselves up? Elite runners who just run fast enough to be guaranteed a spot in the next race?”

  “I don’t know Cheryl. She made major missteps at every turn here. From her poor start off the blocks, to letting other runners make up the stagger on her in the first turn. She’s obviously a terribly inexperienced runner. Though we already know she’s physically capable of surprising feats of athleticism, they were in a very different sport. While I admit to being astonished that she did this well, I think it’s doubtful in the extreme that she’ll make it through the semis…

  ***

  “Chuck! We’ve just gotten word that there’s been another Team USA substitution in this third heat for the 100 meters! This time Donsaii’s replacing Sanchez, their second contender. Sanchez was Team USA’s only backup to Keisha Abbot, the expected gold medalist. Though Sanchez was thought to be marginal to medal, it’s hard to believe they’ve again replaced someone who might have medaled with Donsaii, a completely unknown quantity!”

  ***

  Delhi, India—August 4: Donsaii stunned the world again yesterday when she failed to appear for the gymnastics all-around competition where she was considered a lock for the gold medal. Instead she appeared in the Track and Field stadium where she ran in the 100 and 400 meter heats, qualifying in both for the semifinals to be held today. Arguments have erupted regarding whether she should have been allowed to compete in track and field without an existing record in other meets. Team USA Coach Shirley Black has pointed out that she was given complete discretion on substitutions for her team. Whether or not Black had the right to put Donsaii in, the question remains as to whether she has any chance at a medal…

  “Cheryl, Donsaii will have to run in the 100 meter semifinals and finals as well as the 400 meters semifinals today if she is to continue to compete in both of these events. Will she be able to do it?”

  “Well the 100 semi is the first event of the day and the 400 semi is two hours later. That should be time enough to recover from a short race like the 100. The real challenge will come if she qualifies for the 100 final. Trying to run the 100 final just two and a half hours after the 400 semi is very tough and is a big reason few sprinters run both distances. A 400 can really take it out of you and Donsaii has already famously proclaimed her lack of endurance at the Dallas Olympics. We’ll just have to see.”

  ***

  “Chuck, the finals of the women’s100 meters is about to start. For those Team USA fans just now joining us, Keisha Abbot our gold medal hopeful, did indeed win her semi. However, Ell Donsaii was substituted at the last minute for Renae Sanchez. Apparently this substitution was at Coach Shirley Black’s discretion. Donsaii came in third in her heat. Good enough to qualify for the finals but not too promising. There is little doubt that Sanchez would have done better than that and might have had a chance for a medal. Coach Black has not been looking happy. She’s been getting a lot of criticism on the net and was seen having a heated conversation with Donsaii at one point. Black’s got to be hoping that Donsaii’s been holding back due to her claimed lack of endurance. Donsaii had to run in the 400 semis between the 100 semis and this 100 final and we can hope that during the 400, she was saving her energy for the 100. She came in third in the 400 semi’s as well, once again barely qualifying. I’ve got say I’m worried Chuck. What do you think her chances of medaling are?”

  “Cheryl, she’s been slow out of the blocks and playing catch up in every race. I admire Ms. Donsaii as much as anyone else. I’m grateful to her for what she did when the comet came and must say that she’s an amazing gymnast. But it looks to me like Michael Fentis had it right. He said she couldn’t actually be as fast as some claimed she was when they speed-gunned her run to the vault at the Dallas Olympics. That speed gun and the later video analysis is indeed now suspect.”

  “Well, Chuck, we’ll find out shortly. The women are getting into the blocks now. I’m crossing my fingers for Keisha Abbot to get her gold and hoping that Donsaii will at least get close enough to the medals to avoid embarrassment over having taken the place that Sanchez earned.”

  “Everyone’s in their blocks,” Chuck Echols said. “They’re up! There’s the gun. Holy mother of God! Donsaii just exploded out of the blocks! I’ve never… never seen a
start like that! Her take off completely blew away the best women runners in the world. And… she’s leaving the field behind! Farther and farther! Unbelievable! The other runners look completely outclassed! She’s won! She finished nearly twenty meters ahead of Abbot who was in second place!

  “Chuck, for some reason we don’t have any times up on the big board. Something flashed momentarily but then it went blank again. However, I wouldn’t be surprised if Donsaii had just set a new record!

  “Sweet Jesus, Cheryl! The time… the time clock says 8.61! That can’t be right! Michael Fentis’ world record was 9.49 seconds!

  “Wait, the board has just put up a 10.45 for Abbot. 10.45 would have set the women’s world record… if Donsaii hadn’t just beat Abbot by almost twenty meters! At that speed twenty meters would be about two seconds.”

  “Chuck, consternation is sweeping the stands. Some seem to be saying the clock must be wrong. Others are shouting with glee to have been here to witness this amazing event. The officials have gathered to review the secondary clocks and to use the video to back check the accuracy of the times.”

  Cheryl said, “There doesn’t seem to be any doubt in Keisha Abbot’s mind! She’s just picked Donsaii up by the waist and is screaming something. Now she’s put her down and is dancing around, still shouting. She’s saying… she’s shrieking ‘Donsaii!’ over and over again. Shaking her fist and pounding Donsaii on the back. Donsaii appears to be blushing. Rather than shaking a fist or proclaiming her victory as other runners would, she’s simply standing in the middle of the track collecting hugs from the other runners. Abbot has grabbed the Stars and Stripes and is making a circuit of the track, still shouting Donsaii’s name.”

  Cheryl said, “Well Chuck, it looks like Michael Fentis was wrong. Very wrong. I wonder if he’s regretting the day he challenged Donsaii to enter a race…”