John had dragged Ari out of bed at 0600 sharp, his energy renewed. Ari objected heartily until John suggested that she stay behind. They quickly cleaned up, and were out the door. John had left Ray his Beretta and had talked Ari into letting him carry her Glock. Ray had no idea what he might do with any weaponry but had accepted the additional firepower without objection. According to John, there was always a chance that Seth might get pissed and become hostile to Ray. Again, Ray had no idea what any weaponry might do in that case.
Before leaving, John and Ari had checked on the orb. It was still there, but almost impossible to see in the daylight. Ray was neutral about checking up on it every once and awhile, as suggested by John. For some reason Ray was sure that it would wait for them whether he approached it or not.
Now that he was alone in the cabin, Ray began to make himself some breakfast. He stoked up the gas stove and set to work on some scrambled eggs. The scene was eerily similar to the time that Kate was with him at the cabin. Ray wondered what her reaction to the orb would have been. Kate was never the adventurous type. She would probably encourage them much more than Ari did to go to the authorities. As a representative of such, Ray knew what kind of reception they’d get. They’d have to make up some sort of story just to get a raised eyebrow out of a cop around these parts. Ray figured saying that they found a meteor would work. That would get the astronomers running.
John was still adamant about leaving the professionals out of it. Ray had his own doubts, but he kept them to himself. Sure, it was an amazing find, but what if they screwed it up? If they flunked the test, maybe it would leave Earth. Then they’d all go slowly mad and have to be institutionalized. Ray imagined himself sitting at a dusty computer hooked up to SETI’s system, praying that Seth would pull a Christ and return some day. If NASA took over at least they’d go down in the history books.
Ray transferred the eggs to a plate and sat down at the table. They’d forgotten to bring condiments of any kind, and Ray was reminded of this as he ate. Eggs without salt was a venal sin.
Ray allowed his mind to go blank as he finished the eggs. He snapped himself out of this by remembering his shotgun. It still needed to be cleaned. Ray moved his plate to the sink and procured a glass of cola. He sat down at the table, this time with his Remington. He methodically unloaded it and began to take it down. It occurred to him to go get John’s Beretta, now that he was no longer within arms reach of a loaded weapon. He did not, however, move. He just didn’t care any more.
__________
John was absolutely thrilled to see his house again, as if he’d expected it to be gone upon his return. Ari had slept most of the way, and expressed her pleasure at reaching their destination with a groggy groan. John unlocked the front door and allowed Ari inside. Friday met them and demanded attention.
“You got a cat,” Ari croaked.
“The cat got me. Make yourself at home, I’m going to go get the textbook.”
“I would love to use your shower.”
“Go for it. Spare towels are in the hall closet.”
John pointed in the direction of the bathroom as he walked away. Ari scratched Friday behind the ears for a moment and headed over. She could feel a hangover creeping up on her as she procured a towel. Ari closed the bathroom door. Normally she would have loved to look inside the medicine cabinet (nothing personal, just curiosity), but her priorities were unusually ordered that morning. She stepped into a hot shower and sighed with relief. Her head was still threatening a full-bore headache. Ari felt as if she was part of an inescapable cycle of morning-after showers. Still, some night-befores were more fun than others.
Ari buried her face in her towel after the shower. She was rue to step into the clothes she was wearing before but had no choice. She was just moving onto drying her neck when she heard John swearing. Ari cracked open the door and yelled past the swirling steam.
“What’s the matter?”
“I can’t find the damn book,” was the livid response.
Ari closed the door and finished drying. John was still stomping around when she emerged fully dressed. He was walking past her towards the kitchen.
“Son of a bitch,” he said.
“No luck?” Ari asked.
“Not yet.”
There was a nice miniature living room off of the kitchen. John entered and threw open a cabinet. He began removing books and throwing them onto a loveseat.
“It’s not the end of the world, right? We can still go into Boston and buy another copy from the campus bookstore.”
“Maybe,” muttered John, “but the bookstore isn’t open today. We can’t leave Ray up there for another twenty-four hours without returning. He’d have to walk five miles just to get to a phone.”
John flopped down on the loveseat, crushing several books beneath him, and shrugged.
“Damn,” said Ari.
“I just don’t know. It’s not in the basement, I know that.”
“What about the attic?”
“There’s nothing up there. I don’t really have that much stuff.”
“Did you sell it?”
“No, I would have remembered that. You always get jack squat for used textbooks, that’s why I kept most of...”
John trailed off.
“What?” Ari asked.
“You know what? I... damn it, I gave it to Bryan!”
“Bryan Aylward?”
“Yeah! He wanted to look at it.”
“Where is he now?”
“Fucking Egypt.”
“Oh.”
“We’re screwed. Unless we can find another source of the same information.”
“It has to be this book, Ari. The information we need is in the first chapter. Even if we find a different edition it might not be the same. They might be on the next edition by now. You know how they do it, they come out with new editions just to make sure students buy new instead of used.”
“Why don’t we just wander down to Suffolk and poke around the science department? Last I knew those buildings were never locked.”
“I don’t know what else to do. I doubt we’ll find anything, but we might run across a student who has one. Otherwise, we’ll have to drive back to the cabin, tell Ray what happened, and then come all the way back to Boston on Monday. And by then we’ll have to go back to work.”
“Just call in sick. I do it all the time.”
The thought hadn’t occurred to John, though it made perfect sense. John had never taken a sick day in his life.
“Okay. We’ll go to Suffolk and look around. I’m going to go get cleaned up, do me a favor and make some breakfast for us.”
“That I can do.”
Forty minutes later, John and Ari were walking down Derne Street towards Suffolk’s science building. It was a crisp morning and John was shivering. He was deeply worried that Ray might be in trouble up at the cabin. He noticed that Ari was grinning from ear to ear.
“What’s so funny?”
“I just realized how cool this is. We’re like, secret agents working for the government or something.”
“I really wish you hadn’t said that. The last thing we need is the government finding out about the orb.”
“Don’t worry, I won’t tell.”
“You were the first one to suggest we go crying to NASA.”
“I’ve had some time to think about it. I’m ready to face this thing.”
“I’m so relieved.”
The pair entered the appropriate building. It appeared deserted. John headed for the astronomy department with practiced ease. Certain things never left his memory and the layout of the university was one of them.
“The professor’s office is likely to be locked,” said Ari.
“I have my ways around that,” said John with complete confidence.
Ari smiled. “I guess at this point you’re not going to let a simple lock stop you. I like that.”
“Well, I’d rather not get arrested, either. Let’s keep
this above board as long as we can.”
John and Ari turned down a hallway towards the main lecture hall. A student was standing near the entrance and turned to walk away when he saw them. John and Ari entered the hall.
There was a woman inside, writing on the chalkboard. She was dressed in sweats and had her chestnut brown hair tied up in a hurried fashion. John recognized her as the woman he saw leaving the restaurant last week. He also recognized her as...
“Excuse me,” John said.
The woman turned around. John’s brain did calisthenics as he tried to recognize her name.
“Oh, hello,” she said, “it’s John, isn’t it? Class of ‘98?”
“Yeah, John Scherer, and Ari Ferro, class of ‘98. And you’re, uh...”
“Christie Tolliver. It’s all right, it’s been awhile.”
“Yeah, you were in our astronomy class senior year. Weren’t you the teacher’s assistant?”
“That’s right. Now I’m the assistant professor. Big surprise, huh?”
“Nice to see you again,” said Ari.
“You too. I hardly recognize you with so much clothing on.”
John thought he might see Ari blush for the first time, but she simply smiled.
“Indeed.”
“So what brings you by? Reminiscing?”
“Not exactly,” said John, approaching the board. “We’re looking for a fourth edition copy of our textbook for that class. It’s called Astronomy, Fourth Edition, but I can’t remember the author. The cover was blue.”
“That’s an odd request. Did you find an buyer on E-Bay or something?”
“Uh...”
“We have a bet going,” said Ari. “John thinks that the first chapter talks about the Umberian system, and I don’t. We were heading into town anyway today, so we thought we’d settle it.”
John jabbed Ari in the ribs.
“Ow, what’s your problem?” she said.
Christie looked up in thought. “The Umberian system? I don’t remember that one. Are you sure that’s the name?”
“Yes,” said John.
“Because an ‘umbra’ is the shadow cast during an eclipse. It’s also the darkest part of a sunspot.”
“Maybe that’s what we’re thinking of. I might have mistaken it for the name of a star system.”
“A bet’s a bet,” Ari said.
“Yeah, do you have a copy we can look at? We’d appreciate it.”
“I think so. Let’s take a look in my office. I’m currently using the sixth edition but I might have an older copy kicking around.”
Christie led the way out of the lecture hall and down the corridor.
“Looks like you lost your audience,” Ari said.
“Excuse me?” said Christie.
“There was somebody watching you before.”
“Oh. Yes, I admit, my blackboard inscriptions are quite popular viewing. So what are you two up to these days? You’re not, er...”
“No,” said John. “Still friends. I’m a CAD engineer and Ari is a computer programmer.”
“That’s cool. I sometimes regret not going where the big money is.”
“Yeah, but you’re doing something you’re interested in.”
“True enough.”
Christie arrived at her office and unlocked the door. She waived the other two inside. There was an appearance of ordered chaos. A dead houseplant sat in one corner, desiccated by neglect.
“Sorry about the mess. I don’t know what to do with all this crap.”
“If you don’t need the book,” began John, stepping over a pile of papers, “we’ll take it off your hands.”
“Well, I don’t know... here it is.”
John and Ari shared a victorious glance as Christie removed the book from a tall shelf. She handed it to John.
“I suppose you can borrow it but I don’t really have the authority to give it to you.”
“We only need to check the first chapter,” said Ari. “We can do that in a matter of minutes.”
“Yes,” said John, “but we might need it again later. I regret giving Bryan my only copy.”
“Bryan Aylward?” asked Christie.
“The very same.”
“What is he up to these days?”
“Fucking Egypt,” said Ari.
John had the book open to the first chapter. He was running his index finger down the text. The women watched in silence. John turned pages and time seemed to slow. Ari and Christie looked at each other.
“So, still living in Boston?”
“Somerville.”
“Ah. Nice.”
John grunted and began reviewing the chapter from the beginning.
“Do you want some help there, chief?” asked Ari.
“No, I just need to... wait...”
John fell silent again. Ari smiled at Christie.
“So, how do you like teaching?”
“It’s fine. Sometimes I feel like I’m at a disadvantage because of my youth. New students still mistake me for a student.”
“I’d think that’s a good thing.”
“Oh, I agree.”
John closed the book with a thump. “I don’t know, Ari, it’s not in here.”
“You mind if I look?”
“Go for it. But the only thing I could find is a brief mention of the Large Magellanic Cloud and how there might be Earth-like planets there.”
“Maybe that’s it,” said Ari, leafing through the book. “If it’s the only mention of extrasolar planetary systems.”
“What are you two talking about?” asked Christie.
“Maybe that’s the answer,” said Ari. “The Large Magellanic Cloud.”
John turned to Christie. “What can you tell us about the Magellanic Cloud?”
“I can tell you there’s no Umberian system in it. The only things that even have a name versus an NGC number are the Tarantula Nebula and the Reticulum Globular Cluster.”
“How far away is it?”
“What does that have to do with your bet?”
“I’m just curious. I think I already lost our bet.”
“It’s about one hundred and seventy-nine thousand light years.”
Ari was still browsing the textbook. “John?”
“Yeah?”
“I’m really starting to think this is not the toughest question we’ll have to answer.”
“So we’ll take the book with us.”
“Maybe it would be better if we had a more knowledgeable source than just this book. Perhaps someone who could better interpret what’s inside.”
Christie was becoming impatient. “Are you two working on some sort of project?”
John nodded. “You could say that.”
“Then why all this bullshit about a bet? I would have gladly offered you the textbook no matter what the reason.”
“Can you excuse us for a moment? Ari, may I see you outside?”
“Sure.”
John and Ari stepped out into the corridor. John escorted Ari down the hall until they were sufficiently away from the door.
“Great excuse, Ari. A bet? Yeah, I bet on obscure pieces of astronomical trivia all the time!”
“I didn’t hear you coming up with anything better!”
“Maybe not, but at least I’m not blabbing everything in front of her.”
“Bullshit, you’re the one who started blabbing about the Greater Magic Mystery Cloud!”
“Okay, okay. I’m sorry. Why don’t we just take the book and get out of here?”
“John, I think we can use Tolliver. I think we should try to talk her into coming with us.”
John paused and thought about this.
“No, she’ll never believe us.”
“We don’t have to tell her exactly what’s going on. We just have to get her up there. If she’s as insane as you and Ray she’ll want to check it out.”
“Okay, fine... I might have a good cover story.”
“Yeah, what?”
“Okay, John,” said Ari, drawing out the first word. “I guess it’s your turn to offer a terrible excuse.”
“It’s a good one, don’t worry.”
John and Ari walked back into Christie’s office.
“Professor Tolliver, we owe you an apology. Ari and I were trying to protect a potential discovery and we’re wary about losing credit for it.”
Christie smirked. “That’s the most believable thing you’ve said so far.”
“Since we’re really bad at lying, here’s the truth. Ari and I believe we’ve found a meteorite up in New Hampshire.”
“Interesting. What does that have to do with the Magellanic Cloud and the first chapter of that book?”
“Ari and I both owned that book when we took Astronomy 101 senior year. When we discovered the meteorite this weekend, we remembered that there was a comet that passed by the Earth recently. The comet was supposed to have originated in a certain region of space. We couldn’t remember the name of the comet nor the region of space it was supposed to have come from. I thought it was the Umberian system, but I guess that was a red herring. What I did remember is that the name of the region was in the first chapter of this book. For some reason this fact stuck in my mind. I’d done searches on the Internet, but without any names I was getting nowhere It was really driving me crazy. I figured the astronomy staff at our alma mater could help, or at least get us a copy of the book.”
“We’re kinda hoping to sell the meteorite,” said Ari. “So we didn’t want to risk somebody else getting the credit for it.”
“Okay,” said Christie. “There’s only one problem. Any meteorite large enough for you to find would have produced a crater at least several hundred feet wide and vaporized everything inside. If that had happened recently you can bet we’d know about it.”
“What we have is definitely a meteorite, I know that much. I did research on the geological characteristics and I’m quite sure that’s what we found. Maybe it landed a lot longer ago than I estimated. I guess what we need now is an expert to identify it for us and date it.”
“Nudge, nudge,” said Ari.
“I’m hardly an expert on meteorites,” began Christie, “but I could at least confirm your suspicions. You’d also have better luck attracting the right people with me sticking up for you.”
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