CLOSE PROXIMITY

by Marshall Huffman

  "Well doctor, I came to pay my respects for Louis. He was like a father to me in many ways. It is a very long trip and since the police haven't released the body yet, The General Director offered me the opportunity to look around. I'm not sure what it is you don't understand," Abby said looking him in the eye.

  "I see. Please stay with your escort at all times and try not to interrupt any of our projects."

  "I'll try to keep that in mind, and who is my escort?"

  "I see no reason that Miss Briscoe can't fulfill that duty. Now if you will excuse me have much to do," he said, turning abruptly and walking off.

  "I don't feel the love," Abby said as he walked away.

  "It's not personal. He doesn't like anyone, least of all, Louis. He assumed that he was next in line to run the place but Louis was chosen over him. He has been a real killjoy ever since.”

  “He should be happy. With Louis gone, he should be top dog,” Abby replied.

  “I’m not so sure. They haven’t even named him interim-director as of today. I think they are going to bring on someone else. At least that is my perception,” Lia told her.

  “Well, that doesn’t concern me. I am anxious to get started.”

  They stood and talked about the general area for several minutes. Lia pointed out where each of the telescopes were located, the danger areas and the function of the buildings at the base camp. The actual telescopes were further up the mountain but the road was blacktopped and in excellent condition.

  “We need to check in with safety and get you a pass, and then we can go up to the telescopes,” Lia told Abby.

  “I’m anxious to see them.”

  Forty-five minutes later they were heading further up the mountain to the VLT (Very Large Telescope) observatory.

  “How do they determine who gets to use them?” Abby asked as they rode along.

  “Twice a year they call for proposals for use of the various telescopes. A committee reviews the requests and a selection is made. After that time allocation is established. No one is ever totally happy but many more want to use the facility than possible so the committee does what they can to please,” Lia told her.

  The next four hours was another bullet in time. It seemed like Abby had no more than started than it was time for lunch. There is no food facility other than vending machines but Lia came prepared. She had brought along bread, cheese, and soft beverages. Alcohol was strictly forbidden.

  They ate while Abby asked non-stop questions. Lia laughed at one point.

  “What?” Abby asked.

  “I’m not sure how you are getting your food down while talking at sixty miles an hour.”

  “That bad?”

  “I was being nice.”

  “Oh dear. I’m sorry Lia. It is just such a great opportunity.”

  “Believe me, I totally understand. Listen, would you like to visit where Louis was working his last night here?”

  “I don’t know. I don’t want to be inappropriate,” Abby replied.

  “Don’t worry about it. It’s just you and me and I’m not about to say anything,” Lia assured her.

  Finished with lunch, they walked over to the UT-4 site.

  “This is YEPUN. It means Venus.”

  “In what language? I’ve never heard of that word in my life,” Abby told her.

  “In Mapuche. A Chilean dialect.”

  They entered the observatory and Lia pointed out the various instrumentation. Abby was familiar with most of it, but not everything.

  “This is his work area?”

  “Yeah, that photo is his ex-wife. She died a couple of years ago.”

  “Geez, we had lost touch. I didn’t even realize he had gotten married.”

  “It gets pretty lonely up here. Nothing but the Antofagasta Desert for miles and miles,” Lia replied.

  “This is what he was working on?” Abby asked, looking at the notes on his desk.

  “I guess so. That’s where everything was left the night he was…had his accident.”

  “I wonder what he was trying to locate.” Abby said, looking at the notations on the pad of paper.

  “I guess we will never know now,” Lia said.

  CHAPTER FOURTEEN

  Doctor Kwame had been the director of the Isla de La Palma Observatory for the past five years. The La Palma Observatory is located high up at 2400 meters above sea level in the Canary Islands. The area is known as Roque de Los Muchachos. It is a consortium of various types of telescopes operated by the nations that own them. Many have a sole purpose like the Dutch Open Telescope (DOT) that is used to study the sun.

  Santa Cruz is the principle city and is located on the gulf coast. The mountains rise only a few miles from the edge of the town. Because of the high altitude, the observations are carried on at the observatory but most of the theoretical thinking is done in the lower elevations where the lack of oxygen is not a problem.

  Doctor Kwame had just finished discussing a joint project between Italy’s Galileo National Telescope and the NOT (Nordic Optic Telescope). He had been quite pleased with himself for brokering a joint project that seemed to satisfy both parties.

  When he received word of Louis Mendoza’s death he was truly saddened. Louis had been the first person to take him as a serious candidate for the astronomy program. He was sorry that it would be impossible for him to attend the funeral but the construction of a new French telescope was nearing completion. While not the largest telescope, it did have the latest in micro processing ability. There was no traditional eyepiece. Everything was sent to computers where it could be studied and dissected a myriad of ways.

  Today, one of the Italian members thought he had observed a black hole or other phenomena near Neptune. He had discussed the sighting to a colleague on the Swedish observation team. It had been decided just today that the two would cooperate to see if they could locate this object and discover what it actually was.

  He was after all, more than willing to let them have their hunt. That was what astronomy was all about wasn’t it? He was fairly certain nothing would come of it but if it made them happy, his job was easier.

  **

  The night sky is studied by countless avid astronomy buffs looking at the heavens as well as the professionals. Obviously the objects they can observe are somewhat limited. Most telescopes range from a few hundred dollars to a several thousands of dollars. A few serious sky watchers spend considerably more. Sometimes in the thousands and hundreds of thousands of dollars.

  Maybe one of the most ironic things is that while the observatories are searching the far reaches of the universe, it is the backyard astronomer that is watching the objects closer to Earth.

  Carl Wyler was professor at a small Community College in Indiana. He was tall and good looking, with a commanding presence about him that ensured that his classes were always full. The same could be said for his adult continuing education classes. While the college didn’t have a huge fancy telescope for his students to use, they did have a very nice, computer controlled 16” Mead LX200 ACF Schmidt-Cassegrain telescope.

  His evening adult education classes were limited to no more than twenty students and he always had to turn down requests for adding just one more. The college also had a few older Dobsonian telescopes that students could use. However a vast majority of them brought their own telescopes.

  “Professor,” he heard Sharon Stine’s voice cut through the darkness.

  He knew he had to be careful with her. She was recently divorced and on the prowl. She almost made it a point to stand just a shade too close and brush against him several times a night.

  “Yes Ms. Stine?”

  “Sharon. Remember? Last week you agreed to call me by my first name.”

  “Certainly. What is it Sharon?”

  Dumb mistake on his part. He should never have agreed to be on a first name basis but this was an all adult continuing education class. He was expecting them to act like adults. Right.

  “Well, I can’t
seem to find what I’m looking for,” she said.

  “What are you trying to locate?”

  “Jupiter. You said this was a good time of the year to see it better. I can’t seem to locate it.”

  “Do you have your star chart with you?”

  “Yes,” she said holding it up.

  “Did you try to use it to locate Jupiter?”

  “Honest, I did. Just like you showed us.”

  “Well, it’s always a little tricky at first. Why don’t I get you on the right…?”

  “Right what?”

  “That’s what I’m asking you. What do we call the plotting points?” he asked.

  “Oh. Let me think. RA and Dec, right?”

  “Very good. Right Ascension and Declination.”

  “Got it,” she said and went to setting the coordinates.

  A few minutes later she was back where he was helping another student.

  “I hate to bother you but I am still having a problem. I can’t seem to find anything.”

  He walked with her over to the telescope she was using and looked through the finding scope. It seemed to be aimed pretty much where he knew Jupiter was located presently. He look through the eyepiece aperture and knew immediately what was wrong.

  He reached up and removed the lens cover that was used to protect the object lens.

  “You can see more with this off,” he said holding it up.

  “Oh gosh. I couldn’t figure out for the life of me what was wrong. I feel really silly,” she said, putting her hand on his arm.

  He smiled and held it out for her to take.

  “Please excuse me, I was helping another student,” he told her and made a hasty retreat.

  The rest of the class was pretty much routine for the third week of the eight week class. It was at the end of the class that it got a little strange.

  “I know I’ve been a little bit of a bother tonight but can I ask you something?”

  Oh hell. He just couldn’t say no but he really didn’t want to have to dance around the subject either. This was not going to end well, he thought.

  “Certainly, what is it you would like to ask?”

  “Well, while I did finally locate Jupiter and it was amazing and all but what I wanted to know about was the big dark area.”

  “I’m not sure I understand. What big dark area?”

  “I was just getting ready to pack everything up and I saw this…I don’t know how to describe it but like a dark shadow. It looked like it was behind Jupiter. It was only there for like a minute then it was gone.”

  “Oh it was probably just something passing between the telescope and what you were observing. Maybe a satellite or plane. It could be any number of things.”

  “I suppose. It did seem strange that it just popped up for a few seconds and then was gone.”

  “Well maybe next week we can look in the same place together,” he said and immediately regretted it.

  “Sure, that would be really great,” Sharon said.

  He stood there thinking about what she had just said. A large dark shadow. It had to of been something simple. Maybe a moth or something had landed on her lens and she thought she was seeing something.

  He decided that tomorrow he would use the Mead 200 LX to see if he could spot anything. He used his iPhone to check his schedule and found that he could break free from 4:00 p.m. on. As the department head, he had the privilege of making sure he didn’t teach any night classes except for the ones he enjoyed teaching such as the continuing education courses. He made a quick note to ask the other students in that class if anyone else had observed anything unusual.

  He finished packing everything up and headed to his car. Sharon was standing by his door.

  “Professor, I’m not hitting on you honest. I just thought you might like to go get a beer or something. I swear I won’t make a pass or flirt. I think I just need someone to talk to,” she said.

  He looked at her. She was very attractive but he had always made it a policy never to get involved with a student under any circumstances. Oh what the hell, he decided, what could it hurt?

  “I would enjoy that very much Sharon,” he told her.

  CHAPTER FIFTEEN

  The Director General for ESO had flown to Chili for the funeral of Louis Mendoza. The body had finally been released and the funeral was to be held in Santiago.

  “I do not understand how you allowed this woman to be here under foot.”

  “I wasn’t aware she was creating a problem Doctor Yorga,” Fassbinder said calmly.

  “The point is she should have never been allowed to be here in the first place. She is an American of all things. They aren’t even part of the ESO. She has no right to be here,” he insisted.

  “But she did have a right to be here doctor.”

  “What right? That is what I am talking about. I don’t even remotely understand why she has the right to be here,” he said, his face starting to get red.

  “Louis Mendoza was her mentor. He is the one who gave her the first break to become involved in this field. She is an accomplished astronomer and has written three excellent books. Her books are used by Universities and Colleges around the world. She has earned the right to be considered one of the foremost authorities on planet development.”

  “So? So he gave her a break. He is dead. End of story.”

  “Ah, but not quite. The other reason she is here is because I invited her,” Doctor Fassbinder replied, looking at him.

  “I understand,” was all Doctor Yorga said and walked off.

  Fassbinder took off his glasses, wiped the lenses with the end of his tie and shook his head. This was the easy part. Wait until they had to tell him he was not going to become the director.

  No use worrying about that now. That announcement would be made after the funeral. Now all he wanted to do was take a nap and get rid of the pounding headache he had.

  CHAPTER SIXTEEN

  “Well, well, well. Look who’s back. And with a tan no less,” James said as Abby walked in.

  “You know how it is. I was lying around on those beaches they have at the top of the mountains in Chili,” she kidded.

  “You don’t call, you don’t write, I was beginning to think it was my breath,” James replied, walking over to her.

  He was taken aback when she gave him a big hug.

  “Well, that’s better than a letter any day.”

  “James, you can’t believe the equipment they have. I mean we have nice stuff here but, wow! What they have is simply incredible! They were kind enough to let me spend a little time on the various telescopes, including the NNT. It really is mind boggling. If we had equipment like that or even access to it, we could prove or disprove the tenth planet theory in a matter of months.”

  “They aren’t interested in knowing that?” James asked.

  “Maybe in time. Right now they are searching for the end of the universe. They are reaching out to the very edge. If it hadn’t been for the fact that I went to say goodbye to Louis, it would have been a perfect trip.”

  “I’m sorry about your mentor. I certainly understand how that could throw you for a loop,” James said blushing.

  “Why James. I think you actually missed me.”

  “Maybe a little.”

  “I know. I thought about how you guys were left holding the bag. I know we are way behind but I’m back and raring to go,” she told him.

  “Actually we are better off than you might imagine. I have been keeping the log up to date pretty well. We may have lost a day at most.”

  “You’re kidding? You actually worked alone and were able to keep us that close?” she said.

  “I think you will be surprised. I didn’t rush anything but I did keep at it. If I got too tired I would take a few minutes to regroup and then get back to it.”

  “Wow. I didn’t expect you to carry the whole load while I was gone,” Abby said obviously impressed.

  “I didn’t do it alone. Everyone d
id their jobs as well. The math gang would come by occasionally and bring a pizza and we would just talk. It helped break up the night. Ruth and Jeff even offered to work longer shifts if it would help. Everyone pitched in Abby,” James told her.

  “I knew you were a diamond in the rough but I didn’t expect you to shine so fast. Truly an excellent job James. I’m proud of all of you. Thank you,” she said with tears welling up.

  “Actually I got more out of this than I ever imagined. I am much more confident in my abilities now.”

  She suddenly hugged him again and this time he hugged her back.

  “Well,” she said after she released him, “I guess you would like it if you had a partner who pulled her weight.”

  “Oh, you’re going to get me someone to actually help?” James said smiling.

  “Now, now. Don’t be too cheeky after the nice things I said about you.”

  “Listen, not to change the subject, but I do have one thing that is kind of nagging at me.”

  “Just one?”

  “Okay, one repeating thing. The first night after you left I thought I saw something kind of strange. By that I mean like a shadow or dark area someplace just behind Neptune. Or where I think Neptune should be. I only caught it for a minute and then it was gone. At first I thought it was just because my eyes were tired. The next night, just before Ruth and Jeff came on, I thought I saw it again. I can’t really explain what I saw but what I noticed most of all was that the stars behind the shadow were missing. Like something was blocking them out,” James told her.

  “You saw the same thing in the same place twice?”

  “Actually three times. Last night I noticed it as well. It might have been there before and I just didn’t catch it.”

  “Did you write down the plot points?” Abby asked.

  “Of course,” he said taking a pad of paper out of his backpack and handing it to her.

  She looked at them for several seconds, frowning.

  “And you were in the Aquarius Constellation, you’re sure?”