make it look like I was just walking nonchalantly. Arms
down at my side, legs sliding forward and back in barely controlled
leaps like I was miming cross country skiing. I hoped it looked
more natural than it felt. Peter didn’t bother trying to keep up.
He just ambled along behind us, closing ground when we stopped for
cars, yelling his half of the conversation without caring how many
stares he gathered.
“ I said, that pattern is repeating!”
He yelled again. Like we didn’t hear him. Like we weren’t just
ignoring him because the little old ladies of this town were
worried enough about us bringing aliens down on their
heads.
“ I said, that-“ He started
again.
“ We heard you!” I finally yelled
back. “Nobody’s saying it’s not repeating. I’m just saying the
pattern could be natural. Nature’s full of patterns!”
Did he not even hear the sand dollar
speech? God damn it, I practiced that for hours last
night.
“ Patterns that regular, that
intense?”
I couldn’t jog-walk and yell at the
same time. Jen was getting away. Her hunched shoulders bobbing away
into the night, like some sort of sexy Frankenstein.
I decided to hell with Peter, and
broke into a run.
“ I said, ‘patterns that regu-“ Peter
yelled after me.
…
Jen made it back to the observatory
first. She’d already had time to kick her boots off – she always
walked around the focus room barefoot – and was blowing her nose
over the trash can, like an angel.
I could feel my face burning from
the workout. Jen wasn’t even breathing hard. I looked at her tall,
lean frame. Limp red hair. Thick black glasses. Beautiful, thin
lips. Body like somebody had put a mannequin on the rack and
stretched it out. I poked my own moderate paunch, straining at the
edges of my worn Speedracer T-shirt.
Like she’d ever be with a shlub like
me.
Peter came in last, still yelling
his half of a conversation nobody had heard.
“ -and you can’t use nature to
dismiss an intentional pattern like this. Look at this – a full 72
seconds…”
He grabbed the sheaf of printout
from globular cluster M55. He held it up to my face and shook it. I
had a mad impulse to slap it out of his hands – it would be so
dramatic – but I swallowed that down and just smiled at him.
Weakly.
“ Right man, look at the pattern.
It’s all over the place,” I said.
“ But those big spikes are
unnaturally regular deviations from the hydrogen line,” Jen
said.
My heart sank. It was the first uncute thing she’d ever
done.
“ Yes, those few spikes are regular,
but everything in between is all over the map. Look,” I said, and I
took a step back so I could stand between them. “I’m not saying
it’s not weird, I’m just saying we need more info before we make
something big out of this.”
Peter let out a low groan. He did
that when he was thinking about something he didn’t like. Jen
scratched her neck and looked away. Neither spoke.
Science prevails.
…
I kicked open the door to the focus
room.
“ Merry donut day, nerds!” I
yelled.
The lights were off. The chairs were
empty. I set down the three cups of coffee and dozen donuts on my
terminal. I thought I should bring a little peace offering after
our tiff last night, so on my way in, I had asked a guy on the
corner where I should go for donuts. He said “New York,” then
walked away. So I had to swing by a phone booth and look it up in a
soggy book hanging from a chain. Friendly town.
I shouldn’t be the first in. Jen
should still be on the early shift, and Peter should be stumbling
in by now, three hours late for his rotation, reeking of vodka and
devouring his customary three plain pieces of bread. Should I call
somebody? Who do I even call? We’re all volunteers. As far as I
know we can just up and walk away. Jen could have pissed off back
to…oh man, can you believe I don’t even know where she came from?
God damn if I missed my only shot with her because I was
too…
The door banged
down at my side, legs sliding forward and back in barely controlled
leaps like I was miming cross country skiing. I hoped it looked
more natural than it felt. Peter didn’t bother trying to keep up.
He just ambled along behind us, closing ground when we stopped for
cars, yelling his half of the conversation without caring how many
stares he gathered.
“ I said, that pattern is repeating!”
He yelled again. Like we didn’t hear him. Like we weren’t just
ignoring him because the little old ladies of this town were
worried enough about us bringing aliens down on their
heads.
“ I said, that-“ He started
again.
“ We heard you!” I finally yelled
back. “Nobody’s saying it’s not repeating. I’m just saying the
pattern could be natural. Nature’s full of patterns!”
Did he not even hear the sand dollar
speech? God damn it, I practiced that for hours last
night.
“ Patterns that regular, that
intense?”
I couldn’t jog-walk and yell at the
same time. Jen was getting away. Her hunched shoulders bobbing away
into the night, like some sort of sexy Frankenstein.
I decided to hell with Peter, and
broke into a run.
“ I said, ‘patterns that regu-“ Peter
yelled after me.
…
Jen made it back to the observatory
first. She’d already had time to kick her boots off – she always
walked around the focus room barefoot – and was blowing her nose
over the trash can, like an angel.
I could feel my face burning from
the workout. Jen wasn’t even breathing hard. I looked at her tall,
lean frame. Limp red hair. Thick black glasses. Beautiful, thin
lips. Body like somebody had put a mannequin on the rack and
stretched it out. I poked my own moderate paunch, straining at the
edges of my worn Speedracer T-shirt.
Like she’d ever be with a shlub like
me.
Peter came in last, still yelling
his half of a conversation nobody had heard.
“ -and you can’t use nature to
dismiss an intentional pattern like this. Look at this – a full 72
seconds…”
He grabbed the sheaf of printout
from globular cluster M55. He held it up to my face and shook it. I
had a mad impulse to slap it out of his hands – it would be so
dramatic – but I swallowed that down and just smiled at him.
Weakly.
“ Right man, look at the pattern.
It’s all over the place,” I said.
“ But those big spikes are
unnaturally regular deviations from the hydrogen line,” Jen
said.
My heart sank. It was the first uncute thing she’d ever
done.
“ Yes, those few spikes are regular,
but everything in between is all over the map. Look,” I said, and I
took a step back so I could stand between them. “I’m not saying
it’s not weird, I’m just saying we need more info before we make
something big out of this.”
Peter let out a low groan. He did
that when he was thinking about something he didn’t like. Jen
scratched her neck and looked away. Neither spoke.
Science prevails.
…
I kicked open the door to the focus
room.
“ Merry donut day, nerds!” I
yelled.
The lights were off. The chairs were
empty. I set down the three cups of coffee and dozen donuts on my
terminal. I thought I should bring a little peace offering after
our tiff last night, so on my way in, I had asked a guy on the
corner where I should go for donuts. He said “New York,” then
walked away. So I had to swing by a phone booth and look it up in a
soggy book hanging from a chain. Friendly town.
I shouldn’t be the first in. Jen
should still be on the early shift, and Peter should be stumbling
in by now, three hours late for his rotation, reeking of vodka and
devouring his customary three plain pieces of bread. Should I call
somebody? Who do I even call? We’re all volunteers. As far as I
know we can just up and walk away. Jen could have pissed off back
to…oh man, can you believe I don’t even know where she came from?
God damn if I missed my only shot with her because I was
too…
The door banged
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