After class, Joram had to scold her. “Note passing, Kath? Isn’t that a bit juvenile?”
“How could you focus on that lecture, Joram?” Kath attempted to change the subject.
“Kath, it’s not the speaker that I care about—it’s the subject.”
“I know, I know,” Kath surrendered. “I’m sorry, Joram. It’s just that I’ve been having a hard time sleeping. These weekends at Palomar are really throwing my body into sleepless disarray. I’m not sure if I’m cut out for astronomy, Joram.”
“Don’t say that, Kath.” Joram loathed the idea of losing Kath from the program. “Give it some time, you’ll adjust. It’s just been two weekends so far.”
“And then, with Scoville… I swear if Zimmer doesn’t get back soon, I’ll become infamously known throughout the department as Kath Van Winkle.”
“Speaking of Zimmer,” Joram took advantage of the segue, “What do you think he’s doing?”
“I suspect he’s still at Johnson.”
“Really? But he left on Sunday. Three full days?”
“Yeah, I suspect the longer he’s gone, the worse news it is on the rescue mission, not being able to figure out how to counteract the effects of gravity on the beam so close to the spaceship.” Kath’s voice trailed off.
“What’s wrong, Kath?”
“I just can’t help wondering about the astronauts. How awful it will be if we have to leave them up there. I understand they can survive for several months. What a miserable demise it will be to be left waiting that long. Talk about a slow death.” Kath stopped on the sidewalk and turned to Joram. “It could’ve been worse, you know.”
Joram returned a curious stare. “What do you mean?”
“If you hadn’t discovered the gravitational effects of the beam, we might have sent up a team of rescuers to an most unexpected and unfortunate doom. You have probably saved a handful of lives, Joram.”
“Well, before you award me with that medal of honor, the act wasn’t anything close to heroic, Kath. I just stumbled across something, that’s all… any of us could’ve done that. Besides, it was Zimmer’s decision to go find Deneb. Any other star, and we probably would’ve just looked over the detail.”
“Do you think a rescue mission is still possible?” Kath asked the question that had weighed on her mind all week long.
“I’m confident that Zimmer will come up with a way to save them—and study that beam too.”
“But how, Joram? What would you do to save those astronauts in light of the gravitational risks of the beam?”
“I really don’t know, Kath. I suspect that we might need to take advantage of the beam’s gravity. Use it as a slingshot to hurl us away from Mars and then bring us back in a sort of orbit around the beam perhaps. It might take a lot longer to get there, depending on how strong the gravity of the beam is, but what’s a few more weeks, or even a couple of months if need be to bring those astronauts back. Any politician who loves his career is going to do all that he can to bring those men back alive.”
“I sure do hope you’re right, Joram.”
The pair resumed their course through campus at a leisurely rate, when Kath’s cell phone rang in her backpack. Opening the phone up, she looked at the caller’s phone number and gasped. “It’s Zimmer!” she said quietly to Joram, as if the professor might overhear her.
Without saying a word, Joram gestured anxiously for her to answer.
“Hello, Professor… Really? Oh, that’s great news… launch on Friday… oh, I’m so relieved. But what about the gravity? I’m sorry, say that again… But… I don’t understand… Houston, you say? Weekend after next… Wow… yeah that will be great! Joram? Oh, he’s probably too busy reviewing Dean Scoville’s notes after the last lecture to turn his cell phone on…”
Joram’s jaw dropped as he threw open his backpack and rummaged through its contents looking for his phone.
“Yeah… he says he’s really enjoying the dean’s lectures… he’s absolutely smitten with the man’s intelligence…”
Joram looked horrified. This little prank was just going too far, and he made gestures to get her to stop—frantically waving hands, jumping up and down, making slicing motions across his neck, reaching out as if to strangle her for this level of imprudence.
“Just kidding, Professor… he’s right here with me. We just got out of 21, you know… yeah, I’ll let him know… See you on Friday.”
Kath roared with laughter. “You should’ve seen your face, Joram Anders.”
Joram stood there motionless, not wanting to give away any emotion, but as he watched her jubilantly engaged, with her soft brunette hair bouncing around her face he felt his irritation, once again, melt into attraction.
Taking a deep breath, she composed herself once again. “Let’s go to the Red Door Café, and I’ll tell you all about the call.”
Joram jumped at the offer, all too eager to hear progress of Zimmer’s activities. Joram prodded her for information all the way, but Kath refused to divulge any details until she had a peach-flavored iced tea to drink.
“Well?” Joram asked as he and his raspberry lemonade took a seat next to Kath.
Kath held up a finger to hold off Joram just a moment longer. She took a swig of her tea along with a long drawn out breath.
“Are you quite sufficient to talk now, my lady,” Joram said bowing to his regal companion.
In a burst, Kath let out all of the details of the conversation in the longest run-on sentence that Joram was ever aware of hearing. “Zimmer said there’s no worry about gravity; after studying the gravitational effects of the beam on Mars, they realized that the light was not bending because of gravity, but for some other phenomenon, because the beam had not shown any effect whatsoever on Mars; of course, we’re going to have to figure that one out now too, you know, but Zimmer said he’ll brief us on that the next time we’re at Palomar, which won’t be for a week and a half, but let me get back to that little detail later; anyway, the mission will resume with just one day of delay, so the launch will be on Friday afternoon instead of Thursday morning; the professor needed extra time to add a few items for studying the light-bending phenomenon up close; the mission is going to launch the experimentation equipment prior to landing on Mars in 18 days, which means that the experiments will begin on our next research weekend, not this weekend but the next one, but of course, you already know that; what you don’t know, however, is that we’ll not be going to Palomar that weekend, we’ll be going to Houston instead, in order to be in the rescue mission control room while the experiments are under way; Zimmer thought it would be best for us to be there collecting data in real time; by the way, Zimmer was steamed that you didn’t answer your cell phone when he tried to call you first…”
“What?” Joram’s jaw dropped. “But… but… but c’mon we just got out of class. I didn’t have a chance to turn it…” Joram cut himself short recognizing the look in Kath’s eyes. “Oh, I am so gullible. Would you just stop doing that to me? How many times will I fall for it?”
Kath chuckled. “Hook, line and sinker.”
“Yeah, but just you wait, Kather Mirabelle. I’ll start recognizing your bait before long, and then you’ll have to pick up and move to a different pond, because this fish ain’t gonna bite anymore.”
Kath feigned an expression of seriousness. “Oh that will be a sad day, Joram Anders… a sad, sad day.” Looking at her watch, she finished her tea hurriedly. “Would you look at the time? We should get going. I’m meeting a friend at the tennis club for a game this afternoon, and you need to start reviewing those notes from Scoville.”
With a quick peck on the cheek, Kath immersed herself in the crowded walkways of the CalTech campus. Joram watched and admired her gait for as long as he could see her. After she disappeared, he allowed the moment with Kath and the news from Zimmer to settle in while enjoying the rest of his lemonade.
Chapter
15
After doing his best to e
ncourage Paol as they left the courthouse, Warron and Monay walked quickly together towards the parking garage, each holding a black umbrella to protect them from the rain. The storm was starting to clear, but a dampening drizzle encouraged them to seek shelter as they walked.
The silence began to disturb Monay. She was not one for awkward fits of silence, even if it was her boss. “Warron,” she engaged the sullen attorney, “do you still really believe that Paol is innocent?”
“Absolutely,” he affirmed. “I can feel it. I have no doubt that he is innocent. We just need to find better answers to the questions of the case. I really wished the jury had been more convinced that these questions were pertinent and serious. If I can find an answer or two, I’ll convince them in the appeal.”
“The case seemed so open and shut to me,” she confided. “If I was on that jury, I would’ve voted him guilty also.”
“I know, I know, I would have too. That’s why this is so difficult for me to swallow. I have a client who is a good, honest, and innocent man. I have failed to represent him adequately, and now he’s been sentenced to serve a prison term he does not deserve.” He stopped in his tracks and gazed intently at his paralegal. “But I will not fail him in the end, Monay. Mark my words. Paol Joonter will be acquitted.”
She turned one corner of her mouth up in a half smile. “I’m sure you will find a way… that’s why I work for you, you know.”
Distracted, she turned back towards the window front of an electronics store that the pair had stopped in front of. Televisions of all sizes, synchronized to the same channel were just starting to broadcast the evening news. A pair of speakers above the window allowed passersby the opportunity to watch and hear the broadcast.
A male news anchor dressed in a dark suit coat, white shirt and red paisley tie announced, “Our top story of the night comes from Houston, Texas, where our reporters are picking up the latest details from the incident on Camp Mars. Rilynn Stewbridge comes to us live from the press room at the Johnson Space Center. Rilynn, can you fill us in on what we know so far.”
The television screen split to show both the anchor and field correspondent side-by-side. A caption at the bottom announced, “Tragedy on Mars.”
“Well, Milas,” began the correspondent, strategically placed with an empty press podium and NASA logo in the background. “Dr. Vurim Gilroy just gave an announcement that NASA will attempt a mission to rescue the astronauts on Camp Mars. Communication has still not been made between Mars and Earth, and there is no word on the status of astronauts Garrison O’Ryan and Dmitri Boronov.
“He stated that a team of NASA specialists have been assembled, as well as renowned astrophysicist and CalTech professor, Carlton Zimmer, to assess the cause of the incident. We talked with Dr. Zimmer earlier today about the incident.”
“A newsreel then showed the interview with Zimmer. Warron lowered his umbrella, since the rain had completely ceased now, and took a couple of steps closer to the largest TV.
Wow!” he exclaimed. “Would you look at that?”
Monay playfully hit her boss over the head with her umbrella. “What is it with you men that make you drool every time you see a large-screen TV?”
He turned abruptly. “No!” he said. “I’m not talking about the TV… I’m talking about how haggard Carl looks.”
“Carl?” Monay asked as she turned back to the television. “Just because you’re one of the top lawyers in the country doesn’t give you a right to be on a first-syllable basis with every important scientist, you know.”
He turned away from the store window and began walking away from Monay. “Not unless that important scientist just happens to be your brother.”
Monay’s jaw dropped. “Carlton Zimmer is your brother! I… I… I had no idea!”
She bounded several steps quickly in order to catch up to Warron Zimmer, the younger, and certainly less popular sibling of the Zimmer family.
“I mean, sure you have the same last name and all, and maybe Zimmer isn’t all that popular, but I never would have made the connection.”
“Well, we certainly took a different course in life,” Warron said. “I was still in diapers when Carlton was already intently studying every move of NASA. Every young boy his age was captivated by the announced development on Mars. Carl just took it more to heart, I guess. He knew the first astronauts’ names. He monitored construction of the camp intently. He became quite the areologist.”
“Airy what?” asked Monay.
“Areology,” began Warron, “refers to the study of Mars. Carl made sure I knew the correct word, when I kept referring to him as a Martian-ologist. The poor chap looked exhausted in that newsreel, I’ll tell you that much. I don’t think he should continue to work at the pace that he does… he’s just starting to get too old for that to be any good on his health.”
“Well,” retorted the paralegal. “I’m not so sure he looked a whole lot different than you during your pre-trial efforts.”
“That’s different,” the lawyer countered. “I’m younger than he is… by eight years.” He cut a glance out of the corner of his eyes, spying on a reaction from his assistant. He was disappointed when all she did was roll her eyes.
“Anyway,” Monay switched the conversation back to the current event. “I saw a headline this morning in the newspaper regarding the Mars incident.”
“What did the paper have to say about it?” Warron asked.
“Nobody seemed to know what was going on, but it sounded like a couple of astronauts may were in serious danger.”
“And that’s how my brother comes in. NASA called on him to help them find a solution to saving the astronauts. Well, if anybody can do it, he’s their man. The best problem solver I know. He’d have made a better lawyer than me.”
“Well, he certainly makes a better Martian-ologist, or whatever you call it,” Monay asserted. “Your brother is Carlton Zimmer, and I know more about what’s going on at Mars than you do?”
“It’s not like Carl works on the Mars thing anymore. He’s chasing bigger challenges at this stage of his career.”
“Oh, that’s right. Didn’t he attempt to study black holes?” asked Monay.
“That was his main project a couple of years back, and I don’t think it ended on a positive note. It was a beginning of a rough relationship with NASA funding of his programs. It turns out that it’s really hard to understand something you can’t observe, and since black holes are known to be gravity sources so large that nothing—not even light—can escape, well, it’s not like you’re landing an astronaut on one of these things to take soil samples, are you? He mentioned that it was one of his toughest and most frustrating pieces of research. I know that he wasn’t happy with the results. Either way, he’s really been interested in just one objective practically since he was in grade school.”
“What’s that?”
“He’s trying to find a parallel earth out there. You know, I really respect his dream, but it seems so unreasonable. I hope he’s not chasing some dead end path. But… he is the expert, and I know he has his theories for good reason. I just don’t understand it all when he explains it to me.”
“Well, I wish him the best. He’s made some fascinating discoveries along the way. It sounds like a parallel earth would be a crowning achievement for him”
“It really would be. I sure hope he can find it.”
Chapter
16
Carlton Zimmers’ research team stepped out of a white shuttle van in a large parking lot. Zimmer looked more tired than ever, while the students looked like energetic, bright-eyed children on a field trip. Nonchalantly, Zimmer thanked the driver of the van and walked towards the adjacent building—an inauspicious off-white structure of four stories in height with no windows and only the identifying number 30 placed high on its wall.
“Not much to look at, huh?” Reyd said, breaking the silence.
“No, you’re not!” Kath shot back at her fellow student as she tu
rned and slugged him on the shoulder for his irreverence at this space exploration monument.
“It doesn’t have to be much to look at,” Joram rebutted. “Just think of the history, Reyd,”
Zimmer settled the squabble once and for all. “Would you all prefer to stand out here and debate the architectural merits of Mission Control, or would you like to go inside and get a closer look at our beam.”
Without a word, the three followed the professor inside the foyer of the building, where a tall middle-aged man was waiting with an outstretched hand.
“Dr. Zimmer.”
“Stan… so kind of you to meet us here.”
“It’s no problem, Professor.
“Students, this is Staneck Rodgers—mission specialist for the Mars mission.” Zimmer introduced each of his students to the NASA engineer.
“I’m glad you all could come see the mission. I, for one, have lost plenty of sleep—mostly over the astronauts, you’ll understand—but also out of curiosity over this mysterious object. I really hope this mission will shed some light on its origin and makeup.”
Walking towards a security desk at the foyer, Stan proceeded with business. “I’ll need each of you to sign your name and provide our security guard, with a set of fingerprints.”
Reyd went first, and Kath remained close by to follow after him. Joram lingered a little behind in order to bend his ear towards the conversation ensuing between Rodgers and Zimmer.
“No, professor,” Joram overheard Staneck as he shook his head. “There have been no anomalies with the mission. Everything is going smoothly. We had a clean separation of the USL from the shuttle at 0913 hours this morning. In approximately 45 minutes, we should have paddle separation. Data collection should begin within a few minutes of trajectory correction for each of the twelve paddles.” Stan looked at his watch. “Things should start getting busy, and hopefully interesting, in about an hour or so.”
“And the astronauts, Stan?” inquired Zimmer with a concerned tone in his voice.
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