Hi all and here (finally) is Chapter 3 about the continuing adventures of Ms. Bessie Howard. We won't, by the way. see her doing any time travels or heading off to  outer space or to places much closer for another 7 or 8 chapters, so be patient, OK? No, in this one we simply get to know her even better and to also meet her two closest girlfriends. Next week, if not sooner, Chapter 4 will do the same with introducing us to yet more of Bessie's closest friends. And so, enjoy! 

Chapter 3; Early Autumn - School Lets Out for the Weekend

          The last of Covington High School’s Friday classes were done and the students streaming out the front entrance were met once again with another unusually warm, and sunny day for mid-October. Inarguably, Wisconsin’s old weather patterns were changing. But while this caused deep concern for some, these young people weren’t sharing it, not today anyway. This one marked the end of mid-terms and better yet, the coming week was blessedly shortened by parent-teacher conferences from Wednesday through Friday. Hopefully for the students, along with everyone else in town, the summery weather would stay this way throughout for all to enjoy.

          Literally dancing down the steps between her two best girlfriends, Bessie was purely delighted about something besides the weather. Her grin bright as the sun she threw an air punch. “Woo-hoo! Did I nail it or what?!”…and promptly missed the last step. “Oh!” she cried and sprawled full length on the concrete.

As the other two helped her back up, one of them shook her head. “I swear! First chance I’m constructing you a robot seeing-eye dog!” Likely able to do just that, Lulu Chen was Covington High’s top student with robotics and computer hardware design. Later in college she would major in Cybernetics Engineering.

Holding Bessie’s arm, the other girl declared, “And I’ll make you use it before you kill yourself! And…mah word, ah’d sew hate that!” Imitating one of her favorite actresses, Vivian Leigh as Scarlet O’Hara in Gone with the Wind, Nina Manchester was the best of Covington High’s excellent troupe of student players. Dropping the accent, she pointed at Bessie’s right knee. “Oh man, you need to bandage that thing! You OK, girl?”

Rubbing it, Bessie saw that others nearby were smiling at her and shaking their heads. She shook her own while straightening up, “I’m more embarrassed than hurt,” and then smiled ruefully at Lulu, “But when you do get that doggie built, I’ll be right over to try it out…” She paused. “…if I can ever find the time.”

Currently taking all the advanced math and science courses she could, Bessie believed that fitting these into her growing skills with astronomy would eventually land a PhD in cosmology. This would have her even closer, she hoped, to doing what she had yearned for ever since first seeing them through a telescope - to travel to the stars!

          As they headed toward the street, Lulu was still anything but happy about the exam. She said to Bessie, “Nice going and all, so don’t get me wrong. But your A-plus from Hollingsworth just blows my mind.” Though dearest of friends, she was also Bessie’s nearest rival for high marks in Physics. She added in a huff, “I worked my butt off for a B!”

          To Bessie’s right Nina was simply luxuriating in the warm sunshine. “Lu, we should be talking tanning lotions, not that horrible stuff! So let it go, all right?”

With largess to spare for the moment, Bessie lent some to her down-hearted chum. “Besides, you know as well as I do – that a B from Hollingsworth is the same as an A from anyone else.”

          Lulu nodded grudgingly, “I guess. Other than you, no one but Ravi and I got better than a C, poor dummies.”

          Nina reached behind Bessie and poked her. “Like me for instance?”

          Lulu groaned, “Oops-my bad! At least you passed it, right?”

          Nina waved airily, “Yes and speaking for us mathematically disadvantaged, my C is fine.” Which it was, for someone hating math as much as she did. Without the help of her gifted and talented friends here, not to also mention a few others, she knew she’d not have survived week one in this class. 

Ever supportive, Lulu rejoined, “Neen, it’s a lot better than fine. I mean, Hollingsworth words his questions so hard that it’s practically…”

          Used to Lulu’s mothering ways Nina cut in, “Thank you Momma Chen, but!” Back arched and arms stretched out, she tipped her face to the clear blue sky, “It’s summer out here and I couldn’t care less!”

          Bessie said, “Speak of the devil, here he comes.”

          When conducting classes Louis Hollingsworth normally moved in slow motion when he moved at all. Whereas, now swinging a briefcase their Physics teacher was practically running down the steps. Tossing them a wave in passing, he abruptly about-faced and doubled back. Ignoring Nina, he said somewhat out of breath, “That was very nice work (puff-puff) on the exam, ladies! And say the same (puff-puff) to your friend Mr. …um…”

          Bessie and Lulu finished at the same time, “Ravi?”

          He nodded hurriedly, “Yes, yes, Mr. Gavaskar! In fact, after class I meant to tell the three of you about the scholarship grants the University of Wisconsin is offering our better science students. Oh! And if any or all of you do sign up I’ve already gotten your older classmate, Mr. Ricci, to advise you with it. As my adjunct in Physics lab, he’d be very helpful I’m sure!” He glanced at his watch. “Sorry I’m so pressed for time! But we’ll pick it up again on Monday, OK?”

          Swallowing her upset, Lulu asked, “Why the rush, Mr. Hollingsworth?”

          “Starting today and on through next weekend I’m helping to host the Advanced Sciences Symposium over at UW.” Sponsored by the University of Wisconsin – Madison and other schools in the U.S. and overseas, the symposium included some of the best researchers there were in today’s scientific community.

 Lulu’s expression got doubly serious. “I’ve been on-line about it all week. Among other things you’re discussing computerized systems and robotics for space travel. Personally, I think those are what’ll make it happen.”

          He nodded, “I agree. In fact, today’s opening guest is Dr. Rama Shiva who’s representing the 100YSS Society.” He stole another look at his watch. “Anyhow, she’ll present one of the biggest questions about that. Namely, how will we humans fit in? And frankly, Ms. Chen, it’ll be to a very limited extent I’m afraid.”

The 100 Year Starship Society was dedicated toward laying the groundwork for getting an interstellar space vehicle of some sort sent off to the nearest star system within these next hundred years or so. Considering the countless difficulties involved, the society was first to admit that their studies alone might take that long.

          A fully paid-up member of 100YSS since 5^th grade, Bessie excitedly chimed in, “Trust me, Mr. Hollingsworth, I’d go over there with you right now if we students were allowed! Which the site said…we aren’t! Anyhow, the biggest problem they’re struggling with is the same one you and I have discussed this whole term!”

          She was Hollingsworth’s favorite student and on any day but this one he would have spent all the time that she wanted. And yet? Rushed as he was, he could not resist squeezing her in. “Precisely, Ms. Howard! The other problems we’ve spoken about - going back to the Moon, landing on Mars, and visiting the asteroids are all perfectly do-able. But we both know that reaching the stars is a whole different matter. In fact, it might not even be possible…” he trailed off.

Crossing the unimaginably vast distances from Earth to even the nearest star systems relentlessly posed the same seemingly unsolvable problem originally thrust up by Einstein’s Theory of Relativity. Since proven countless numbers of times, it stated that absolutely nothing other than photons could travel at the speed of light, 186,000 miles per second.

In fact, this last week after her lab class Bessie showed Hollingsworth her calculations as an example of the problem. Namely, a space craft travelling at 50,000 miles per hour, the highest velocity yet achieved, to cross 4.22 light years to the nearest star, Proxima Centauri, would be 55,000 years just getting there! Both fully agreed the only “do-able” way to reach other habitable but tremendously far-off planets was to travel FTL (faster than light).

Meantime left out, Nina shifted restlessly from side to side. “You guys, he’s in a hurry. Save it for next Monday, all right?”

          Paying her no mind for once, Bessie’s headshake swirled loose a few more strands of hair. Impatiently brushing them away, she wasn’t buying his ‘not possible’ remark. “Of course it’s possible! Our New Horizons passed by Pluto nearly five years ago!”

He answered, “Your essay about NASA’s findings from that was excellent by the way.”

“Thank you,” she said, then frowned. “Of course, the distance to Pluto is nothing compared to the stars. But even so…” Eyes searching his, she finished, “…there must be some way.”

          “Yes, we’d all like to think so.” His next time check showed that his part in the symposium began in forty-five minutes and he’d barely make it. “Nuts, I’m late-late-late! Anyhow, Ms. Howard if you want to talk about it some more next week, then feel free. Again, good work on the exam! Bye now!”

          Watching him dash off to the parking lot, Lulu said, “He’s not a bad guy actually. He…”

          Nina’s laugh interrupted, “Sure, Lu, he’s totally hot! Too bad he’s such a jerk!”

Readying to start home, they first re-adjusted backpacks no longer crammed with textbooks and other paraphernalia, except for lap-tops. And lately, their smart phones were turning these into little more than dead weight. Having every app imaginable, a Smarty allowed users, along with texting, talking, taking photos, and shooting movies to just name a few, to draw from the Cloud virtually any information they wanted. It was joked the only thing a Smarty couldn’t do was drive your car, although even that might happen before very long.

Anyone watching these girls would toss the old adage about birds of a feather flying together. Most teen-girl cliques truly did more or less act and talk and dress alike. But the watcher would smile at how unalike this trio looked.

          Wavy blond hair cut shoulder length in the latest style, Nina sported a striking aqua-marine Cardin blouse and trim-fitting Miss Me designer jeans. Originally aiming to be a high-fashion model, she’d been furious to find out last year that she’d stopped growing any taller. There were no Vogue or Cosmo venues in store for her at 5’6”, she knew, and so? Unstoppable, not even by genetics, the willful Ms. Manchester simply switched…to acting. And very good at it too, as shown by her encores for playing the leads in last year’s school variety shows. The second of which, she also produced and directed. More, this past summer she appeared as the youngest, most talented member of Covington’s adult troupe of community stage players.

Short stature meantime not stopping her in the least from posing for regional catalogues and newspaper ads, she currently earned a very good income. Just this last week she kidded to Bessie and Lulu, “Talk about sweet paychecks to just strut my stuff on their runways! Poor babies, little do they know!”

          Puzzled about practically anything besides cybernetics, Lulu took the bait. “I don’t get it. What don’t they know?”

Irrepressibly, Nina laughed, “That I’d pay them to do it!”

          Shortest of the three, Lulu’s ear-length black hair was combed sideways. This and the plain white blouse with color coordinated gray slacks certainly complimented her serious, quiet-spoken ways. Perhaps the no-nonsense conservative hair style and attire simply suited what Lulu knew she was, one amazingly good cybernetics engineer. A self-admitted perfectionist, she was at her happiest only when deeply immersed within the electronic maze of cyber-space.

          A head taller than the other two, Bessie was their polar opposite style-wise. Clad in crumpled cargo shorts, a loose fitting T-shirt, and worn sneakers, her long reddish-brown hair, or most of it anyway, was stuffed up under an old Green Bay Packers cap. Whenever without it, she kept the hair pulled back with a rubber band. Hardly dressed to attract the opposite gender, it wasn’t that she wouldn’t like to, because she would. But taking college-level math and science courses and being self-taught with her mom’s help about astronomy simply left no time whatever to learn much in the way of any girl-meets-boy routines.

As their threesome started toward home Lulu said to Bessie, “Sorry to keep bugging you about it, but this exam was the toughest yet. So I’ve just got to know -how’d you do it?”

          Shifting her pack this way and that to make it sit right, Bessie answered, “Before taking this one, I…! Nuts!” Halting, she reached back to fumble with the shoulder straps. “Give me a second - this stupid thing!”

          Nina got behind her, “Here, I’ll get it.” Undoing one of the straps, she shook her head. “How do you always get these so tangled!?”

          Bessie sighed, “Now you sound like my mom. She says I’m world’s biggest klutz.” Patiently letting Nina fix them, she went on, “Anyway, Lu, I used my VI headpiece to visit the hadron collider in Switzerland. It really helped, too.”

          Only half joking, Lulu rejoined, “Personally, I think it actually takes you to the Hogwarts College of Physics. Then you come back as Bessie Potter!”

          Unravelling the second strap, Nina said, “Hold still!” then snickered, “You actually do use magic, right Hermione?” Admiring of Emma Watson in the old Potter movies, she would have given anything to play that part.

          Bessie reply was oddly hesitant. “It actually does…take me to…other places at times. At least it seems that way.”

Nina slapped the back of her pack. “You’re fixed! Let’s go!”

Bessie nodded, “Let’s. If Dad brings home his newest headset, I’ve got a big evening ahead.” Co-owning his company, Virtual-Scope, Rob Howard always brought home the latest VI headsets created by his cybernetics-genius partner Marsh Perry for her and Ben to try out. According to Rob they were so good at this, it saved lots of extra time and expense with his departmental testing staff.

          Nina’s agenda was calling her too. Tomorrow morning her mother would take her to model at a teen fashion show in Madison. Returning afterward to the Covington Mall, they’d peruse the chic autumn-wear displayed at Janine’s Fashion Boutique. Ever tracking the latest styles, Nina practically lived at Janine’s.

As they walked away from the school Bessie and Lucy began doing a rehash over the tougher exam questions.

Back to practicing her accent, Nina sniffed haughtily, “Puh-lease dah-lings! No mo-ah of that bloody awful stuff – ‘tis fah too goah-geous today!”

          Lulu made an aside to Bessie, “Who is she this time?”

          “She’s that famous British actress, but I can’t remember…”

          Nina finished, “Helena Bonham Carter, the British actress. Remember Mrs. Ames telling us about her great grandma – I think it was - in Modern World History? Lady Violet Bonham-Carter was best of friends with your beloved Winnie.”

She meant Winston Churchill. In any case, because Lady Violet was more involved in Parliamentary politics than most other women prior to World War I, Mrs. Ames, an ardent feminist, pointedly ranked her right up there with him.

          Enjoying history nearly as much as the sciences, Bessie’s studies of Churchill truly did have her admiring him for his many accomplishments. So much so that pinned to her bulletin board was a photo of her Winnie, as she called him, while a young British cavalry officer. The only other photos placed higher up were those of her cherished role models, Albert Einstein and cosmologist Carl Sagan.

          The girls walked maybe a dozen steps when Nina’s Smarty chimed.  Scanning the messages and texting replies… “BSY – CUL (Catch You Later)”,   she muttered, “Like I don’t have enough going on?” Pocketing the phone, she motioned to the other two, “Time’s a-wasting, my dears, let’s go!”