Starry Dreams

By Karl Thorn

Stan has two Dreams. The first is to publicly prove his college professors wrong and in doing so, give the world interstellar flight! The second is more of a challange, getting a date with the girl he is obessing over. Little does he know she is the key to making the first happen.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Karl Thorn
• Release date: May 21, 2020
• ISBN: 9780463773987

Karl Thorn

Technical Support Engineer Two degrees in electronics

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Starry Dreams

By Karl Thorn

Published by Karl Thorn at Smashwords

Copywrite 2020 Karl Thorn

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Starry Dreams

Chapter One

There she is! Stan thought as he watched her enter the City Eats Dining Center at San Francisco State University. She was one of the most intriguing girls he has never met. Stan wasn’t a stocker. He was too busy for that, with things to prove. Nevertheless, she had gotten his attention the first day he saw her. There was something about her that told Stan that she was no ordinary girl. It wasn’t her silky long dark hair, nor the narrow waist and wide hips. While she had a cute oval face with a petite nose, it wasn’t that either. It wasn’t her physical beauty at all. Judging from the classes she took he knew she was intelligent. He has seen her carry several textbooks before and seen what she had been studying while at the diner. Her spoiled attitude said she didn’t care what anyone thought of her, yet she didn’t walk with her nose up in the air either. Nor did she hang out with the ‘high society’, in fact she usually ate alone. She was a loner, which he could sympathize with.

She lived in the Towers at Centennial Square like Stan did with a meal plan to this café. It was the closest restaurant to the apartment style dorms. Every semester it took him a few weeks to learn her schedule. This semester the beautiful brunette took lunch at a consistent time four days a week. Stan was determined to be here on those days when his project permitted.

Dude, Rodney said, sitting his tray down on the cafeteria table where Stan sat. He watched Stan eye the brunette who was still in line. You haven’t had the courage to approach that girl in the last four years. Why do you insist on taking lunch the same time she does? Rodney had long unkept tan hair. He wore old worn jeans and a shirt with grease stains. Rodney sat beside Stan.

Stan was working toward his master’s degree in Science and Engineering. He had short black hair, blue eyes and an oval face. Only his project would keep him from being here when she was.

William, who was already sitting at the table with Stan, smirked. Stan has always been a dreamer. Let him dream about her too. William looked the typical nerd. He had a no fuss buzzed haircut, wore clean clothing, but paid no attention to its style. He even wore glasses that he had broken and were clearly super glued back together. William was a robotics specialist, working on his masters as well.

One of William’s robots stood silently by the table waiting for a command. The humanoid looking robot had been one of his senior class projects. William had a giant ‘W’ painted on its chest as if it was a superhero.

I don’t care about Stan’s dream girl! Rodney smiled. I have something important to tell you that may affect our project.

That brought Stan’s attention back to his friends and the food on his plate. What’s that?

My mom has finally cut me off. Rodney said.

Cut you off? William asked. If the subject wasn’t related to computers or robotics, William was slow to grasp the meaning at times. He pushed the superglued glasses back on his nose. Did she finally find out you had dropped out of college?

Rodney shook his head. She found out I purchased and installed the environmental and sanitation system in my ‘houseboat’ that rivaled the space industry. She thought the cost was way to high. It had been expensive. It was a copy of what NASA had installed on the Lunar Gateway. He had purchased it directly from the manufacturer.

The houseboat was actually three modified stainless-steel pressure tanks. They had been custom modified and delivered directly from the manufacturer. One of them was larger than an RV. This was the project they had referred to. They were putting it together at a boat slip that Rodney’s family rented. So far, they have managed to avoid the attention of any authorities, mainly because they were building it from scratch and haven’t bothered to register it yet.

This was bad news, but Stan couldn’t help but smile. He could imagine the conversation. Well mom! I had to have a place to poop! Stan then frowned. They now needed to find another way to finance their project. Luckily it was almost completed, though it would limit the upgrades that Stan had planned. The ship did have many areas where improvement was needed.

Stan looked up at the brunette whom he had admired all these years. She sat at an empty table next to them. She only made a cursory glance at them, not even long enough for him to smile at her.

* * *

Sarah found an empty table. It happened to be by those harmless geeks that always seemed to be here. Well at least the one with the short black hair and blue eyes. Even with that cute oval face, he still looked like a nerd. She also thought that he always looked lonely as well. She actually sympathized with him and wondered if he hated being at this collage as much as she. San Francisco State would never have been her choice, but her daddy insisted on it. This was where he graduated and still had connections. Because of that she was able to get a partial scholarship. She knew her dad’s business had been taking a beating the last few years, but why did she have to suffer for it?

She looked at her chicken fried steak, turned her nose up at it before she even tasted it. Why had she chosen it? She knew the answer. It was better than everything else they served today. The cooks always refused to make anything she requested. Her first year here she had made demands. They only laughed at her. Now she was just tired of everything. All she wanted to do was go to the warm tropics, relax on an isolated beach from everyone and soak up the sun.

She was working to get a degree in engineering with a minor in business management. A strange set, she knew, but it was for her father. She needed to be educated in his line of work. She didn’t really care. She had no goals of her own and only selected this to help out her father. She knew he needed trusted people to help run his company. When he refused to give kick backs to people in high places, he had lost all his government contracts, including those in the lucrative business of reusable rockets. To make matters worse he lost some key personal. She would be graduating this semester and would go to work for him.

She started eating the bland food and remembered she had to find some references for the paper she had turned in to her professor. Internet references weren’t good enough for him and he threatened to fail her if she couldn’t supply at least three by the next class. She had been putting it off and now it happened to be her next class. She couldn’t afford a failing grade. Her father would have a fit. She had to hurry if she was to get those in time.

Next thing she knew she was choking on a half-chewed piece of grisly steak...

* * *

I’ll still get some money. Rodney admitted. But only enough for my tuition, books and the cafeteria account here at the school.

What if she finds out you dropped out last semester… William cut his sentence short when Stan suddenly dashed over to the brunette. She had her hands to her throat and was starting to turn white. Stan forced her to stand, knocking the chair over. From the back, he wrapped his arms around her thin waist. He clasped his hands together and gave her the Heimlich Maneuver. A dark stringy object flew from her mouth after only one abdominal thrust.

Sarah took a deep breath after a few short coughs and stared in disbelief who had been her savior. It was that lonely nerd. She saw deep concern in his blue eyes.

You okay? Stan asked gingerly.

She nodded, rubbing her throat with one hand.

You may want to go to a doctor to make sure nothing was damaged. Stan said, not knowing what else to say.

She shook her head. I’ll be fine, and thanks.

By this time, Rodney, William and a few others that witnessed the event, had gathered around.

Rodney poked Stan in the rib and whispered. Tell her your name.

I’m Stan... Stan Everstein. He waved his hand toward his friends. And this is Rodney Kean and William Payne.

Sarah was still in shock. Normally she would not have bothered with a second look at these clowns. I’m Sarah Garrison.

Of course, Stan already knew her name. He had looked it up long ago. Everyone said she was a stuck-up because her family had money. Stan suspected it was something else, otherwise she would hang out with the other rich students and join their sororities. She had done none of that. Stan had asked Rodney about her family. Though Rodney was from the upper class, he didn’t know much about the Garrisons. They apparently ran in different circles. He only knew what Stan could find out himself, that her father was in the aerospace industry.

Stan picked the chair up that had fallen over. He motioned for her to have a seat. You mind if I sit with you. He found the courage to say after she sat.

She nodded approval. How could she refuse after he just saved her life?

The crowd broke up. Without asking, Rodney and William grabbed their food trays and joined her and Stan at her table. The humanoid robot stayed motionless at the other table.

Tell her about the boat we are building. Rodney said.

It’s silver, the coolest ship I ever saw! William added.

Is it a boat or a ship? Sarah