word: “Keith!”
For long moments they lay locked together, hearts racing, breath gasping. He lifted his face from the tufted coverlet and looked into her eyes again.
She smiled up at him. “That’s the first time you’ve kissed me,” she said.
“It’s the first time you called me by my first name.”
They laughed together.
He sat on the edge of the bed. His insides still felt fluttery. Jo traced a fingernail along the length of his spine.
“Is there anything else I can do for you, Dr. Stoner?” she teased.
Turning back toward her, “Stay the night.”
“I have a class tomorrow morning.”
“Oh.” He frowned in the shadows. “Where in hell are we, anyway? Where is this house?”
“In New Hampshire…not far from White River Junction.”
“White River Junction? Then how in hell can you drive to campus in time for a morning class?”
“So I’ll miss the class,” Jo said easily. “It won’t be the first time.”
“That’s what got you under McDermott’s thumb, isn’t it?”
“I can handle Professor McDermott. He’s just a big bully.”
“White River Junction,” Stoner mused. “Maybe you ought to bring up a pair of skis the next time you come.”
“We won’t be here for the ski season, from what Professor McDermott says.”
“What do you mean?”
“He said the whole observatory staff will be heading south in a few weeks.”
“Including me?”
She nodded. “And me. I’m going too.”
“Where?”
“He wouldn’t say. Just that the climate wouldn’t be so cold.”
“Green Bank?” Stoner wondered. “No, it’s just as cold in those West Virginia hills as it is here. It can’t be Arecibo. Not even Big Mac could swing Drake and Sagan out of there.”
“What’s it like to be an astronaut?” Jo asked.
He blinked at the sudden shift in subject. “Huh? I wasn’t really an astronaut…not like the real rocket jocks. They used me as a construction engineer. I just rode up into orbit and helped put Big Eye together.”
“But you spent months in space, didn’t you?”
Shrugging, “Sure. And once they got the telescope working, NASA figured they didn’t need an expensive astrophysicist who did construction work anymore. So I got RIFfed.”
“What does that mean?”
“Reduction In Force. Laid off. Bounced. Fired.”
“And that’s when you came to the observatory?”
“Yes.”
“And your family…where are they?”
So she’s pumping me, Stoner told himself, knowing that sooner or later she would have asked him about his wife and children.
“My wife took the kids back to her parents in Palo Alto,” he said flatly. “The day I got the RIF notice, as a matter of fact. Strictly coincidence; poetic timing. We hadn’t gotten along in years.”
“How old…?”
“Fifteen and twelve,” he answered automatically. “The boy’s the oldest. I don’t see them at all. Last time I flew out to Palo Alto they wouldn’t even come to the front door to say hello to me. Let’s change the subject.”
Jo reached over and pulled him down to her and kissed him. “I’m sorry,” she said softly. “It must hurt a lot.”
“It should, I guess. But mostly it just feels kind of numb.”
“You’re covering it over.”
“With work. Right. My work comes first. Doris always said that it did, and she was right.”
“And now?”
“Now I’m onto the biggest goddamned discovery in history. Nothing else matters. I’m going to prove that we’ve found extraterrestrial intelligence. No matter what Big Mac or the Navy or anybody else does—I’m going to prove it to the world.”
Jo leaned her head against his shoulder and made long, soothing, soft strokes of her fingertips down his chest.
“So fierce,” she said in a whisper. “Do you know, you’re just like me? We’re two of a kind.”
“You? You’re kidding.”
“I want them to notice me, too, Keith. I want to be somebody. I want to make the whole world know who I am.”
He found himself grinning.
For long moments they lay locked together, hearts racing, breath gasping. He lifted his face from the tufted coverlet and looked into her eyes again.
She smiled up at him. “That’s the first time you’ve kissed me,” she said.
“It’s the first time you called me by my first name.”
They laughed together.
He sat on the edge of the bed. His insides still felt fluttery. Jo traced a fingernail along the length of his spine.
“Is there anything else I can do for you, Dr. Stoner?” she teased.
Turning back toward her, “Stay the night.”
“I have a class tomorrow morning.”
“Oh.” He frowned in the shadows. “Where in hell are we, anyway? Where is this house?”
“In New Hampshire…not far from White River Junction.”
“White River Junction? Then how in hell can you drive to campus in time for a morning class?”
“So I’ll miss the class,” Jo said easily. “It won’t be the first time.”
“That’s what got you under McDermott’s thumb, isn’t it?”
“I can handle Professor McDermott. He’s just a big bully.”
“White River Junction,” Stoner mused. “Maybe you ought to bring up a pair of skis the next time you come.”
“We won’t be here for the ski season, from what Professor McDermott says.”
“What do you mean?”
“He said the whole observatory staff will be heading south in a few weeks.”
“Including me?”
She nodded. “And me. I’m going too.”
“Where?”
“He wouldn’t say. Just that the climate wouldn’t be so cold.”
“Green Bank?” Stoner wondered. “No, it’s just as cold in those West Virginia hills as it is here. It can’t be Arecibo. Not even Big Mac could swing Drake and Sagan out of there.”
“What’s it like to be an astronaut?” Jo asked.
He blinked at the sudden shift in subject. “Huh? I wasn’t really an astronaut…not like the real rocket jocks. They used me as a construction engineer. I just rode up into orbit and helped put Big Eye together.”
“But you spent months in space, didn’t you?”
Shrugging, “Sure. And once they got the telescope working, NASA figured they didn’t need an expensive astrophysicist who did construction work anymore. So I got RIFfed.”
“What does that mean?”
“Reduction In Force. Laid off. Bounced. Fired.”
“And that’s when you came to the observatory?”
“Yes.”
“And your family…where are they?”
So she’s pumping me, Stoner told himself, knowing that sooner or later she would have asked him about his wife and children.
“My wife took the kids back to her parents in Palo Alto,” he said flatly. “The day I got the RIF notice, as a matter of fact. Strictly coincidence; poetic timing. We hadn’t gotten along in years.”
“How old…?”
“Fifteen and twelve,” he answered automatically. “The boy’s the oldest. I don’t see them at all. Last time I flew out to Palo Alto they wouldn’t even come to the front door to say hello to me. Let’s change the subject.”
Jo reached over and pulled him down to her and kissed him. “I’m sorry,” she said softly. “It must hurt a lot.”
“It should, I guess. But mostly it just feels kind of numb.”
“You’re covering it over.”
“With work. Right. My work comes first. Doris always said that it did, and she was right.”
“And now?”
“Now I’m onto the biggest goddamned discovery in history. Nothing else matters. I’m going to prove that we’ve found extraterrestrial intelligence. No matter what Big Mac or the Navy or anybody else does—I’m going to prove it to the world.”
Jo leaned her head against his shoulder and made long, soothing, soft strokes of her fingertips down his chest.
“So fierce,” she said in a whisper. “Do you know, you’re just like me? We’re two of a kind.”
“You? You’re kidding.”
“I want them to notice me, too, Keith. I want to be somebody. I want to make the whole world know who I am.”
He found himself grinning.
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