The Astronomer

by Charmaine Pauls

  At the moment the beauty of the surrounding was still obscured by the scaffolding surrounding the giant glass cubicle. She could only imagine the powerful effect once the work had been finished and the evidence of construction gone. It would be like living in an aquarium, she the fish. Now she understood why the men couldn’t work on the condo while she was living here. She would be exposed for anyone who fancied a stare, day or night, unless she lived with the shades down permanently, and that would certainly be depressing. It was only its position so far from the observatory, or any other signs of life for that matter, that made such a design possible.

  The ringing of a bell made Fraya jump. It took a second to realize that it came from her door. She padded to the silver rail of the loft and peered down. A woman stood in front of the glass door. Fraya was met by a broad and friendly smile. She recognized the visitor immediately from the personnel files, the only other woman on the team, Tracy Saunders.

  “Come on in,” Fraya called, but the woman shrugged and pointed a finger at her ear.

  Fraya understood. The glass was double-paneled for the harsh heat and cold conditions of the desert, close to soundproof. She waved a hand at the young woman, motioning for her to enter, and made her way downstairs.

  “Phew,” Tracy said when she closed the door behind her. She swept a hand through her short, auburn curls. “Sure is damn hot out there.” She held out her hand. “Tracy Saunders. Welcome to Paranal.”

  Fraya shook the girl’s hand. They were almost the same age. From what she had read on Tracy’s resume, Tracy was a hard-working employee with a wonderful capacity for grasping people, and an even better capacity for organizing. She had a pretty tan with a few freckles on her nose and cheeks, adding to the spirited gleam in her bright green eyes that gave her a slightly mischievous look.

  “Thank you. I was just about to swing by the office.”

  From the way Tracy walked ahead of Fraya to the kitchen, it was clear that she was familiar with the layout of the condo. As the mate of Ben Saunders, Director of the Paranal Observatory, Tracy was unofficially the most important person in command, although no one would ever admit it verbally. Everyone knew who wore the pants. It wasn’t Ben Saunders.

  “You want to go into the office? Really?” Tracy went straight to the wine bar and retrieved a bottle of Maycas del Limari Chardonnay. “Why? Ben said you needn’t come today. Take your time to settle down and unpack.”

  Fraya stopped in the door, her hands on her hips. “I’m due at the office tomorrow, so I’d like to familiarize myself with what to expect. Besides, I don’t need time to unpack. I travel light.”

  Tracy smiled indulgently. “Ben can be a slave driving bastard. Best take while he gives.”

  Fraya lifted her brow.

  “Free days don’t come along often.” Tracy lifted the bottle. “Mind if I have a glass? I’m officially off duty today.”

  Fraya shrugged. “Go ahead. Help yourself.”

  Tracy took two glasses from the cupboard and filled them. Fraya noticed she knew exactly where to find the glasses. She handed one to Fraya and took a stool at the bar counter.

  “You look so young ... er ... shall I call you Mrs. Larraín or do you prefer Dr. Riber?”

  Fraya smiled. “Fraya will do just fine.”

  It wasn’t just that Mrs. Larraín sounded formal, it was also that Fraya still had a hard time admitting to herself that she now belonged to a certain Mr. Larraín. Fraya’s eyes involuntarily slipped to the bandage on her wrist.

  “Thanks. Anyway, you look so young and so pretty for someone who has a world-famous brain.”

  Fraya moved to the other stool and sat down. “I wouldn’t describe my brain as world-famous, and I’m not that young.”

  “It’s a first, you know, you being appointed into such a responsible position, especially considering it’s your first job.” Tracy took a sip of her wine. “Just so you know, some of the boys are not mighty pleased. Haven’t even met you and already look at you as competition.”

  Fraya grimaced. She hadn’t even considered politics yet. “I’ve gathered from Cramer’s attitude.”

  “Errol’s not actually that bad. He’s a bit put out, that’s all.”

  Fraya rolled her eyes. “That’s all I need, a bunch of chauvinist colleagues.”

  “Don’t worry,” Tracy smiled, “it’s a man’s world, but I’m sure you’re going to make your mark. We’ve received such high praise for you from Dr. Welser.”

  “It’s not making my mark that’s worrying me right now. It’s living here instead of at the residence. People will think I’m being given an unfair advantage.”

  Tracy’s eyebrows shot up. “What? That mousy, measly one bedroom hostel room of unpainted bricks and scratchy bed sheets with a bathroom at the end of the hall you have to share with twenty other men? You can’t possibly want to live there.”

  “I don’t want it to seem like I’m receiving preferential treatment just because I’m a woman.”

  “But you are a woman. And the treatment is different. But hey, I wouldn’t bitch about it. Your mate was pretty damn specific about how he wanted this,” she waved a hand, “constructed for you.”

  Fraya smiled grimly. “Yes. Emilio can be a bit ... intense.” She wondered if Tracy knew that she was supposed to be mated to Gene, that the condo was going to be a wedding gift for Emilio’s best friend, not for her.

  “Intense is an understatement. He was so anxious about the project. Asked me to look in every day when he couldn’t do it personally. Was very specific about the finishes he wanted. Only the best. Even asked my advice, from the point of view of a woman.” Tracy paused, looking at Fraya with meaning. “I hope he got some hanky panky for all his effort.”

  “Tracy!” Fraya felt a blush push up under the scarf around her neck.

  “Oh,” Tracy rolled her eyes, “nothing I’m not used to. I’m just saying, he made such a big deal out of it. Must be nice to have a wealthy man to fuss over you.” She sighed. “You lucky girl.”

  Fraya looked away quickly.

  Tracy pushed back her glass. “Well, I came to see if you need anything. Your mate gave me a list of things. I’ve stocked up the fridge, but it’s not always easy getting everything here. The non-perishables your mate had delivered.” She made big eyes. “I can’t believe he got cheese.”

  “You did great. Thank you. As long as you know you don’t have to do my mate any personal favors.”

  Tracy jumped from the chair. “Oh, I don’t mind. He was so kind. He was really looking out for you. I like that in a man.” She made her way to the door. “I’m not going back to the office, since it’s my day off. Call me on my mobile if you need anything.”

  “You live in the hostel, right?”

  “Ben and I have an apartment in the residence. It’s comfy, but nothing like this.”

  “Thanks for dropping in.”

  “You’re welcome.” Tracy’s red-painted lips stretched into a full smile. “Don’t mind Ben too much. He’s not as tough as he seems.” She winked. “See you tomorrow, Fraya. Good luck.”

  Tracy waved as she walked to an off-road beetle with company registrations plates and took off in the direction of the observatory.

  The condo was quiet again. Fraya had always enjoyed being by herself, but now a feeling of emptiness assaulted her. It was a strange sensation, one she blamed Emilio for. How did she get herself into this mess? She was trapped in a loveless relationship with a man who held a frightening power over her heart. Fraya sighed. Al called from his corner.

  She turned to the majestic animal. “We’re two of a kind, aren’t we, Al? The both of us in cages.”

  Chapter Twenty-One

  Not bothering to unpack, Fraya took the keys and found a Gypsy XO four-wheel drive electric microcar parked in a garage with access from the kitchen. She locked the house and closed the electronic door to the garage with the built-in dashboard remote before taking the dirt road up the mountain.

 
The parking lot of the observatory wasn’t full. The shaded parking housed only fifty or so vehicles, even if there was space for at least a hundred. Making her way to the entrance, she glanced around. Her heart fluttered like it did when she had been informed that her application had been granted. A guard who manned the door admitted her. Like the house, the building was air-conditioned. The reception had a huge desk. A young man signed her in and mumbled something about security checks and clearance when Fraya declined his instruction to wait in the visitor area until her manager had been informed of her presence.

  Waving his objection aside, Fraya made her way down a long corridor to what she knew had to be the offices. Passing the closed doors, she stopped at the last one. There was no name plaque, but the plan she had studied indicated that this was where the boss was stationed. She knocked and waited. There was no reply. Maybe he wasn’t in. Maybe he was somewhere else. She tried the knob and opened the door cautiously. Putting her head around it, she saw the man sitting behind a desk in a shabbily outfitted office. He wore old-fashioned earphones with a connected mouthpiece. He was on the phone.

  Ben Saunders looked up and stopped speaking. He put his hand over the receiver and said, “Yes?”

  “Sorry,” Fraya pointed at the phone, “I can come back later.”

  He waved her inside. When she had taken a seat opposite his desk, he swiveled his chair, turning his back on her, and continued his conversation. “Get me the specs on the new scope and email me the latest reports. We’ll take it from here. Our new astronomer has just arrived.” There was a pause. “Yes. Her. Fine. We’ll continue later.”

  He pulled the headphones off, slammed it down on the desk, and moved his chair so that he faced her. “Dr. Riber. I didn’t expect you until tomorrow. I said you should take today to adjust to your new environment.”

  “No need to handle me with kid gloves, Mr. Saunders. I’m here now. There’s no reason why I can’t get a head start.”

  He eyed her skeptically. “There’s a very good reason. Our admin staff is on strike. Only the operations and technical departments are functional. Fact of the matter is I’m not ready for you. We’re understaffed today and I don’t have anyone to show you the ropes.”

  She gave him a cool smile. She didn’t appreciate the fact that she was already underestimated. “I’m sure I’ll manage.”

  “I hope so.” He sighed. “Well, you’ll find your office on the first floor. Go right ahead. We’ll talk about the job tomorrow. Take some time to go through the reports Tracy left on your desk.”

  “In fact, there is a matter I would like to clear up before we jump into work.”

  He lifted his eyebrows. “This is not related to your salary, is it? Because you’re already way above my budget.”

  “No,” she said quickly. “The terms stand as we agreed. Except for the housing.”

  “What’s wrong with the condo?”

  “Nothing. But for the record, I wasn’t in agreement with living apart from the rest of the staff. Since the house is not finished, I suggest moving into the residence until it’s done. It will give me time to get to know my colleagues better.”

  Emilio would be angry, she was sure, but surely he’d understand if she only moved the date of taking possession of the condo forward.

  Saunders got to his feet slowly. “Dr. Riber, I don’t need to remind you that this is a man’s world. This is no place for a woman.” His gaze roamed over her again. “Especially not a looker like you. And I damn well won’t get into trouble with the men. No sexual harassment cases and no temptations. You’re better off where you are.”

  Fraya felt her face light up in anger. “I can do the job as well as any man and I’m here to prove it.”

  “Fine,” he gave her a sarcastic smile, “but it’s not your job performance I’m referring to. I work with a team of a hundred to two hundred men at any given time, men who don’t see women for days on end, men who sometimes don’t see women for a month. I was against employing a woman, and if it weren’t for the government forcing their new affirmative action law on us, you’d be working in some university in some pretty city somewhere else in the world right now. This is as hard-core as it gets. I don’t need trouble. And throwing you into a pack of wolves is the kind of trouble I take special care to avoid.”

  Fraya got to her feet too. “I can handle myself. I don’t need to remind you that your remarks are very discriminating, Mr. Saunders.”

  His laugh was hollow. “You don’t know shit yet, girlie. My men are only human.”

  Her brow lifted. “That pack of nerds?” She cocked her head. She had seen their photos and read their resumes. They didn’t seem like a bunch of cowboys to her.

  “Yeah. Those nerds. Looks can be deceiving.”

  Fraya narrowed her eyes. “Does this decision have anything to do with my mate?”

  “Your mate seems to have a lot more common sense than you.”

  “It won’t seem fair, putting me up in some glass castle while the rest of the team is sweating it out here. At least give me a couple of weeks at the residence.”

  “I don’t give a damn about fair. Best you remember that. The sooner, the better.”

  “My mate and I agreed–”

  “And I don’t care what you agreed with your mate. This is not a relationship, Dr. Riber, where you get to negotiate. I’m your boss. I’ll tell you how things work around here and how not. Now, get your ass over to your glass castle, or get it upstairs to your office. The choice is yours. As of tomorrow, the choice won’t be yours any longer. As of tomorrow, you’ll do as I say.” His eyes held a silent challenge when he said, “Are we clear?”

  She bit back her anger. “Yes.”

  “Good. Now that you understand how things work, do you think you can handle it?”

  “Yes.”

  “Good. Right answer again. Now, I’m a busy man and I’m short staffed, in case you haven’t noticed. If there isn’t anything else that your highness wants to dispute, I have an observatory to run.”

  “I won’t take up more of your precious time.”

  “And just so that we’re double clear, even if your mate donated the land on which our telescopes are built, I won’t dance to his tune every time he flicks his fingers. That’s your job. I’m not Welser. This is my kingdom. What I say here is law. This is very, very different to the bureaucracy you’ve seen in the city. Welcome to the real world of astronomy.”

  “Thank you for your warm welcome. I’ll keep your real world in mind.”

  “While you’re at it, keep your attitude in line, too, and we’ll get on just fine.”

  He picked up the headphones again and didn’t even glance at her when she stomped out of his office.

  Fraya made her way upstairs without running into anyone else. She barged into her new office and took a deep breath. She’d be damned if she’d let Saunders spoil her first day at her dream job. He can fly to the moon and back for all she cared. On a witch’s broom. And Emilio could keep him company for putting her into this uncomfortable situation in the first place, however well intended his intentions.

  There were files on her desk that she packed into her briefcase. The office looked ten times worse than Saunders’s. It needed a coat of paint and the furniture was scruffy, but this was where ‘home’ was going to be for the next few years of her life. May as well make it as comfortable as possible. The first thing she was going to add was a coffee machine. There was nothing like her favorite coffee to calm her enraged nerves.

  There were two drawers in the desk with not much inside, except for a satellite phone in a zip pouch with her name on it. She extracted it. There was no mobile phone reception at the house. This would definitely make her feel more connected to the ‘real world’, as Saunders had put it. She slipped the phone into her briefcase too, and collected a few more papers and the company ePad that waited for her on the desk. The password was written on a sticky paper and stuck to the cover. She grabbed her things, and decided
to take herself on a tour of the building when Saunders appeared in her door.

  He cleared his throat. “Found everything you were looking for?”

  “Yes, including the sat phone.”

  “Are you heading home?”

  “I was going to take myself on a tour of the building.”

  He shook his head. “No can do. You don’t have security clearance yet.”

  “Security?” She wrinkled her nose.

  “Company procedures,” he said. “And I’ll fire the idiot’s ass who let you past reception this afternoon. Tracy will get you your pass tomorrow. Until then, as I said, stay in your office, or at home.”

  Fraya took a deep breath. The man was impossibly territorial. “Fine. I know about the security protocol but I thought you’d have that in place for today.”

  “You’re wrong.”

  “I’ll see you tomorrow then,” Fraya said as she made her way to the door.

  At the end of the hallway she turned to see Saunders staring at her, his hands shoved deep into the pockets of his corduroy pants. Whatever did Tracy see in him? She only shook her head as she made her way back to the car. So much for a happy beginning.

  It was with a sense of disappointment that Fraya pulled back into her garage a short while later. It was clear that she was going to bump heads with Saunders. Cramer didn’t give her much hope either. Maybe it wasn’t such a bad idea to live far away from everyone, after all. When they interviewed her and she had to complete the psychology test, the psychologist had seemed worried about the isolated working conditions. In fact, it suited her perfectly.

  “Hi Al, I’m back,” she chirped, stopping to caress the bird with her eyes. “Don’t worry, I won’t keep you in here for long. Just wait another day-and-a-half.”