Read Online Defiant (an Ell Donsaii story #9) by Laurence Dahners - Free Book Online Page A

Those ports are all coated with that compound that dissolves in organic compounds to break the circuit and shut the port down. The bastards shouldn’t have been able to send very much propane through that kind of port without disrupting the circuit!”
    “Wait, propane is a gas, how can it dissolve anything?”
    “Well, when you’ve got straight propane pouring through the port, the concentration is so high that it penetrates this compound and softens it enough for the wires to move.”
    After a long pause, Ell said slowly, “What if they slid a long tube through the port and put the propane through the tube? Then there wouldn’t be all that much propane near the port or in contact with the…”
    “Shit!” Vivian swore resignedly. “Yeah, that’s probably what they did. The PVC pipe was to keep them from being blocked from passing the tube. Dammit! We didn’t find such a tube, but they probably pulled it back out right before they sent in the spark to blow the building.”
    Ell sighed, “We need a different method to make sure they aren’t putting flammables through the port.”
    “Yeah,” Vivian said, “I’m fresh out of ideas though.”
    “Let me think about it.”
     
    ***
     
    Ell’s Ford Focus dropped her off in front of the Sparlock’s house and she went up to knock at the door. Ruth opened the door and her eyes flashed wide to see Ell standing there. “Oh!” she clapped her hand to her chest, “Ms. Donsaii… I mean Dr. Donsaii!”
    Ell gave her a crooked smile, “Please call me Ell, and thank you so much for the invitation! I brought a dessert… where should I put it?”
    “Oh! Thank you. Right over here.” Ruth gave Ell a hug and took the pie from her, noting with a mild sense of superiority that the pie looked store bought. She carried it over to the dining room table where the food was being set up, speaking back over her shoulder, “We’re so glad you could come. Everyone told me you’d be far too busy.”
    “Well, knowing your neighbors is important. Do you have these get togethers frequently?”
    “No, this is our first one, but I think we should have them every so often so we can all get to know one another.” Setting down the pie, she guided Ell out the back door, “Jack!”
    One of a group of four men outside on the patio turned and looked at Ruth.
    “Ell, this is my husband Jack.” Ruth turned back to Jack, “You remember that Dr. Donsaii lives on the farm out back?”
    Two of the men standing with Jack looked as startled as he did. A moment later, realizing that he should, Barrett from Ell’s security detail raised his eyebrows in surprise too.
    Ell stepped over to them and shook their hands, “Call me Ell.”
     
    Even though she’d hired one of the neighborhood teenagers to keep an eye on the little kids, playing the hostess kept Ruth busy. Even so, she managed to keep an eye on her famous guest. Donsaii might have brought a store bought pie, but she didn’t act the least bit uppity. She talked to people easily. Ruth found it irritating the way the men’s eyes followed Donsaii around, but the girl was just wearing jeans, flip flops and a loose t-shirt. It wasn’t as if she’d purposefully dressed sexily to draw the men’s eyes.
    Ruth approached the little group of people the young woman was with; somehow expecting that Donsaii would be holding forth on some topic.
    Instead Mary Fenster was telling everyone about how her new dog had chewed her expensive furniture! Donsaii listened with no indication of boredom. When Mary finished her story Ruth felt sure that the conversation would turn to their famous guest. Instead Jake Stelbecht started his own story about a difficult to house train beagle.
    When Donsaii finally said something, it was in response to a direct question from Bill Newkirk, “So, Ms. Donsaii, how do you feel now that you’re the fastest human on the planet?”
    Donsaii actually winced at the question. “No different than I did a few weeks ago