Page 87 of Space Junk: Houston, We Have a Hottie
“A mechanic.” Another blush.
“A mechanic?” The reporter’s eyebrows rise, hinting at her to elaborate. Jules smirks from the monitor and motions Jackie to continue.
“Yes. He is, ah, was a friend.” Jackie clears her throat and shifts in her seat, rubbing the palms of her hands on her pants. “He showed me how to hotwire a car recently.”
“Hotwiring a car? You wouldn’t happen to be a car thief on the side, now, would you?” Vanessa leans forward like she’s having a private moment with Jackie. Like they’re just two women having a conversation and not being filmed on a national news show. Jackie turns a deeper shade of red.
“I was told it wasn’t illegal if it was your own car.”
The reporter laughs along with Jules and Bodie, which seems to surprise Jackie. She relaxes a bit in her chair.
“So, how did you end up hotwiring a car?” Vanessa asks.
“My friend was going to give me a ride home from work. But I accidentally knocked his keys down a storm drain.” Jackie pushes her glasses up her nose. “He had to hotwire his car to start it.”
“That’s some friend.”
“Yes. He was.”
I cringe at the past tense, the pounding in my head escalating. Rose glares at me. The phrase ‘if looks could kill’ takes on new meaning.
“Anyway,” Jackie says, “as he was hotwiring his car, he took me through the procedural sequence. And later, when we were in the emergency briefing about the computer failures on the ISS, it suddenly hit me that we were thinking too complex. All the station really needed was a work-around from the damage sustained by the debris. Bypass the corroded wires and we could jump-start the EXT-1 externally.”
“I see,” the reporter says, but her facial expression says otherwise.
“That would give us the ability to then power-cycle EXT-2, which was behaving erratically due to a software update. Two birds, one stone, so to speak. It was simple, really. Anyone would’ve thought of it, I’m sure.”
“Jackie’s being modest,” Jules jumps in, bringing everyone’s attention to the monitor on set. “Truth is, she’s the smartest flight operator we have at NASA. Did you know she holds not one, but two masters and a PhD? And she’s only 29 years old.”
“She can talk circles around any of us floating around up here,” Bodie adds.
Jackie turns red again.
“Especially those who are no more than glorified streetlights, right, Bodie?” Jules smirks.
Bodie simply laughs and pushes her off frame. She climbs back up in front of the camera using the hand rails along the wall of the station, laughing back. They both seem relaxed, happy even. Not in imminent danger. And I wanted Jackie to give that up? I’m such a dick.
“Yes, you do have quite an impressive background, Jackie.” The newscaster glances down at the notepad on her lap. “Jules mentioned your father earlier. Dr. Gerald Howard Lee is a renowned scientist with several patents in the chemical field. I guess the apple didn’t fall too far from the tree then?”
“My father and I have different interests, but he’s always encouraged me in mine.” Jackie’s answer seems rehearsed. She reaches up, as if to run her hand through her hair, then stops when she encounters the twist thing. She jerks her hand back down, and a few strands fall to the side of her face.
“You might not have any patents that I’m aware of, but as a child prodigy you were given a full academic scholarship to Stanford after winning the Siemens Math, Science and Technology Award at just sixteen years of age. You have two masters, one in physics with a focus in astronomy, and the other in aeronautics and astronautics, which you later followed up with a PhD.”
Jackie nods then adjusts her glasses when they slide down.
“But most impressive, besides saving the International Space Station”—Vanessa pauses to smile at the camera—”is that you were also the recipient of the MacArthur Fellowship.”
“I was very fortunate.” She rubs her palms on her pants again.
“That’s why they call her NASA’s Darling,” Jules says with a smirk.
Jackie cringes, mumbling, “At least I’m not NASA’s Starr,” making everyone laugh.
“I’m feeling a little left out here. I think I need a nickname too,” Bodie says.
“Bodie, any nickname that would suit you wouldn’t be suitable for a public audience,” Jules quips.
Jules and Bodie continue their back-and-forth camaraderie for the camera, while Jackie looks relieved to have the focus off of her.
