Techno

Chapter 9

A Few Weeks Prior

     "Alright, what am I thinking now?" asked Gabriel, floating inside the space station.

     "Okay, give me a hint," responded Ellie.

     "Uh," Gabriel started, stroking his chin, "what I'm thinking may or may not entail anger management."

     "The Incredible Hulk?" answered Ellie, clearly unimpressed.

     "How?" smiled Gabriel, checking the monitors inside the station.

     "Anger management?" teased Ellie. "That's too easy."

     "Alright, alright," Gabriel shook his head, smiling. "Your turn."

     "Okay, hold on a moment..." started Ellie, leaning back. "Alright shoot..."

     "Is it a superhero?" asked Gabriel.

     "No," responded Ellie.

     "Is it a..." he trailed off, "...a fictional hero?"

     She nodded her head, "Yes, getting warmer."

     "Is it involving space?" asked Gabriel.

     "Warmer," responded Ellie.

     "Is it Obi-Wan Kenobi?" answered Gabriel.

     Ellie rolled her eyes, "No, but close. It was Chewbacca."

     "Oh yeah," Gabriel scratched his head, "the big hairy one of few words. Personally, all I liked were the lightsaber battles."

     "But what about the story?" asked Ellie. 

     Gabriel smiled, "You, I think, are the first woman who I've ever met that's actually into 'Star Wars'."

     The two had been stationed at the A.O.S.S. for about a week. It was monotonous at times, so playing mind games always helped to get their spirits up, but Ellie found that she worked well with Gabriel. He looked out for her, and she made sure that he did his calculations right. It was a relationship that worked well in their environment.

     Deep down, though, Ellie had developed feelings for him. She'd always kind of had a crush on Gabriel ever since the first moment she'd seen him. As they'd worked together over the months, the feelings had only gotten stronger. She wasn't sure what to do with her emotions, because any romantic relations could potentially jeopardize the nature of the mission.

     She just had to suffer in silence.

     "How about another game of charades?" suggested Gabriel.

     Ellie shook her head, "We've already played that seven times since we docked here. There's gotta be something else we could do."

     Gabriel shrugged, "We could always play two truths and a lie."

     Ellie floated away and strapped herself into a seat with Velcro, "Alright, you can go first".

     Gabriel thought for a moment while he typed mathematical equations onto his computer, "Okay, here it goes. One, I was born in Chicago, two, I have a dog named Whoofy, and three, I've always dreamed of becoming an astronaut."