CLOSE PROXIMITY

by Marshall Huffman

  “Absolutely. Right there in the dawning of the Age of Aquarius. Those are the dates, UT, Ra and Dec of each occurrence,” he told her.

  “How cute, Hair boy. Okay. Tonight I’ll stay on the telescope most of the time. If I see anything I’ll give you the coordinates. Same if you happen to be on it. Let’s see what this is all about. You think it is within our solar system?”

  “I honestly don’t know. I guess I was just assuming it was.”

  “I am glad you used Universal Time rather than local time in your notations,” she told him.

  **

  “Doctor Montgomery, there is a phone call for you from Chili. I didn’t understand the name. They have a pretty heavy accent,” the young girl said.

  “I’ll be right there. James, you take over and I’ll be back as quick as I can.”

  “I’ll be right here.”

  Abby wondered what this could be about. Who would be calling her from Chili? Maybe she had left something behind.

  “This is Doctor Montgomery.”

  “Doctor Yorga. I understand that you were in the observatory where Dr. Mendoza was last working.”

  “Nice to hear from you too,” she threw in as a barb.

  “I am correct am I not?” he persisted.

  “Doctor you already know that I was there. Lia Briscoe was with me at the time.”

  “She was with you the whole time?” he asked.

  “Doctor, I am very busy. What is it you want?” she said becoming less friendly.

  “A pad of paper with some calculations is missing from Mendoza’s desk. We would like to have that returned,” he said bluntly.

  “Wait. Are you saying you think I took it? Why in the world would I do that? Believe it or not, we have paper here in the US,” she shot back.

  Her anger was building and she was doing everything she could to keep it in check. Who did this overbearing jerk think he was?

  “You were here and the pad was here. You are gone and the paper is gone. It would seem logical that you somehow managed to get it into your possession.”

  “Doctor Yorga, you are accusing me of stealing something as trivial as a pad of paper. I am absolutely flabbergasted. I find your accusation to be insulting and rude. I do not have, nor did I ever have, anything of Doctor Mendoza's. Now I need to return to work.”

  “I can assure you that the matter is not over Ms. Montgomery,” he said.

  “Well Yorga, I don’t give a damn what you do or think,” she said and hung up the phone.

  She was furious. The absolute gall of that pig-headed jerk. Why in the hell would he even think such a thing? How many others had been in that very same observatory? What about the police? Didn’t they collect evidence during their investigation? It took her several minutes before she felt she was in control enough to go back to work.

  CHAPTER SEVENTEEN

  “What?” Abby exclaimed suddenly.

  “What?” James repeated.

  “The object you were talking about. I think I saw what you meant. It was only there for a short period but I saw the stars suddenly disappear for a second. It was certainly behind Neptune and if I had to guess, probably out of our solar system. What I do suspect is that something is lurking out there. Maybe we just found the tenth planet,” she said, making small adjustments to the telescope.

  “I glad you saw it too. I thought I was getting punch drunk.”

  “No, it’s real. I’m not sure what it is yet but we damn sure are going to find out. From now on that is our focal point. I want to track that area only on both shifts. I want a log of sightings. I’ll have Rebecca make up a log for us to use. I want everything kept in a special binder. I intend to call a couple of other colleagues and see if they can look in the same area.”

  “Are you sure you want to do that?”

  “The more eyes the better.”

  “Yes, but if you do actually discover the tenth planet you should get credit for it. If one of your colleagues reports it first they will get all the credit,” James said.

  “Who gets credit isn’t the important thing. The confirmed discovery is the most important part,” she replied.

  “Abby, think about that for a minute, will you? Let’s continue to monitor that area. When we have enough data then you can get others to confirm it. That way it will be discovered and you will get the rightful credit,” James pleaded with her.

  “James, I don’t care about fame or credit. It’s the discovery. The proving of a theory that I care about,” she replied.

  “Please. Just let’s make sure before we tell anyone else. Give it two weeks before you decide to call in others,” James begged.

  “Alright James. I can see this is just as important to you. Another couple of weeks isn’t going to matter one way or the other I guess. We have gone this long without knowing for certain.”

  “Thank you. I honestly think you will be glad you did in the end,” he told Abby.

  **

  “Ah, our mighty leader returns,” Ruth said as she came in for the day shift.

  “Glad to be back,” Abby replied.

  “How was Chili?”

  “Chilly.”

  “Ha, ha. That was an obvious set up.”

  “No I mean it was darned cold. I had to buy winter clothes. Those places are high and one is in the mountain region. It gets really cold.”

  “I guess you weren’t kidding.”

  “Kidding about what?” Jeff asked when he came in.

  “Just shooting the bull. Listen guys, we are deviating a little from our planned routine. I have the telescope set to track one area of the sky. No more mapping. We are going to be looking for any anomalies in that area,” she told them.

  “What kind of anomalies?” Jeff asked.

  “Anything that suddenly pops up and then disappears. If the stars disappear in an area. Anything that you can’t explain.”

  “I can’t explain how a scrawny thing like James can eat half a pizza all by himself.”

  “That is interesting but not what we are looking for here.”

  “Abby, I hate to say this but I think I know what you are talking about. I had that happen a couple of times but I just thought it was my eyes or something getting in the way.”

  “You didn’t say anything to me about that,” Jeff said frowning.

  “Well I was waiting to see if you saw anything but you never said a word so I figured it must just be me,” Ruth told him.

  “Did you write anything down?” Abby asked.

  “No, sorry.”

  “That’s okay. We have a new log that I want us to use. It has columns for all the data we collect. Notice the area that asks for how long it appears. That is vital. Also the UT and local time. Don’t just log things hourly. Log them as soon as they happen. Something is out there and we need to find out what it is. I’m going to the JPL NEO tracking site and see if there is something they are tracking or not. If they know about it, we should be able to download what information they have,” Abby told them.

  “We start that right now, I assume?” Ruth asked.

  “As soon as you get on the scope.”

  “You got it boss. Welcome back by the way,” Ruth said.

  “Thank you. I’m glad to be back. Keep detailed records, we could be on a major find here,” she said.

  James followed her out and she asked if he would like to join her for breakfast since their last one was interrupted.

  He agreed without hesitation this time.

  **

  “I’m sorry about Dr. Mendoza. He obviously meant a lot to you,” James said, sipping on his Diet Coke.

  “Yes he did. Such a waste. He was brilliant and now I will never be able to thank him properly. I wish I had called him more often and just told him how grateful I was for his help.”

  “It is strange isn’t it? There is no guarantee of tomorrow for any of us. Life is often a matter of split seconds. If you hadn’t stopped to this, then this or that would have been different. Someti
mes it’s frightening how out of control our lives are.”

  “I guess there is a grand scheme and we just don’t have all the facts.”

  “But it seems so random at time. Three of my best friends were going to go to an Indy Car race at Mid-Ohio. I was going to go along and we were all going to camp out and just drink beer and relax. I came down with food poisoning the day before we were leaving. I felt like I was going to die. Finally I had them go on without me. On the way over there, their car was hit by a semi when the driver fell asleep at the wheel. The rig came across the median and slammed into Ronnie’s Honda almost head on. All three of them were killed instantly. It was quite sobering to realize that something as simple as what I had eaten had actually saved my life,” Jeff told her.

  “It’s all in the master plan,” Abby reflected.

  “Less somber subject,” James said, “Tell me about Chili.”

  She spent the next half hour telling about some of the remarkable things she saw. She described some of the groundbreaking programs they were working on. She babbled like a school girl. James enjoyed watching her as the words rolled out of her mouth.

  “What a fantastic trip,” James said at last.

  “It was until that jerk Yorga called and accused me of stealing a pad of paper from Louis’ desk.”

  “What?”

  She went on to tell him about the strange conversation she had with Yorga.

  “Well, I can see how that put a damper on the trip. Who would even call up someone and make an accusation like that? A pad of paper, come on, give me a break. Maybe he thinks we don’t have such luxuries in America,” James replied.

  Abby laughed and said, “You’re not going to believe this but that’s exactly what I said. I told him that we already had paper in the US. I didn’t need to import it from Chili.”

  “I wonder what was on the pad that got them so upset?” James asked.

  “I don’t have a clue. I did see a couple of notations on it but it just looked like he had jotted down something in a hurry.”

  “I guess they feel it must be important,” James mused.

  “Obviously, but what?”

  CHAPTER EIGHTEEN

  “Doctor Montgomery, Chili is calling again.”

  “Oh crap,” she said and went to answer the phone.

  “Montgomery,” she said gruffly.

  “Abby? It’s Lia. From Chili,” the voice drifted across the line.

  “Lia. Oh, I so sorry. I thought it was Yorga calling again.”

  “That’s what I’m calling you about. The Director General found out about Yorga’s call to you and went ballistic. He was appalled that he would do such a thing. I don’t know when I have ever seen him angrier. He just found out yesterday while he was in Africa. Communications are somewhat spotty where he is at. He finally got hold of me and wanted me to apologize for such rude and unacceptable behavior. He is ashamed of his colleague and wants you to know that he had absolutely no part in Yorga’s action. He considers you a professional colleague, a dedicated and brilliant scientist, and he is extremely apologetic for this to have had happened,” she told Abby.

  “Lia, tell the Director General I never once considered that he had anything to do with Yorga’s call. I consider him a class act and know he would never have authorized such an action. I see no need for him or anyone at the ESO to apologize for the actions of one person. I valued every minute there and am grateful of the opportunity to have seen such a magnificent site,” she replied.

  “Abby I am so sorry that happened.”

  “Don’t be. You have nothing to be sorry about. It was out of your hands.”

  “But he asked me if you were in there and I told him that we had toured the entire facility. I didn’t know he was going to use that as a means of accusing you.”

  “What choice did you have? He is your boss. He asked and you had to tell the truth. You did the exact same thing I would have done if I were in your position.”

  “I still feel bad,” she replied.

  “Then get over it girl. I totally enjoyed our time together and it takes more than a jerk like Yorga to get to me. Did they ever find the pad of paper?”

  “Yes. The police took it when they came back to gather up other items for their investigation.”

  “I’m just glad they found it.”

  “Oh, by the way, Yorga is no longer here. They named the new director; Amiée Laurent is now in charge. Yorga quit when he found he had been passed over. Everyone is very happy about how it turned out.”

  “My, my. What a small world. Amiée Laurent and I took classes together when we were working on our Ph.D. We actually spent a good deal of time together. I think she is terrific. I am so happy to find out she has done so well. She was always a very hard worker,” Abby told her.

  “I’ll be sure and tell her we spoke and that you are happy for her success.”

  “I would appreciate that very much. Thank you for calling Lia,”

  “Hope to see you again Abby.”

  That was certainly a much better call than the last one. And Amiée being the head honcho was indeed good news. She would certainly be someone she could call if they needed verification. Now she was glad she had listened to James about waiting.

  **

  “There,” Abby said pointing to the object.

  “What the heck is it?”

  “I’m not totally sure but it’s pretty darn big. Why it keeps popping up and disappearing is what I can’t understand. Does that mean the rest of it is hidden behind Neptune? That is the only thing that makes sense at the moment,” Abby said.

  “You mean like a piece of something that is rotating?”

  “Or an appendage of some kind that sticks out, comes into view, and then is gone until it comes around again. We need to determine how far away it is and at what speed it is traveling. That’s what we have to concentrate on. Once we get that we can determine the mass and then the composition. We need to know if it is an asteroid or planetoid. Is it coming toward us or going away? Once we determine that, we can call the JPL and have them start tracking it. I’ll get other stations to verify what we have found. We have a ton of work to do. I want to get everyone here for tonight’s session. I want everyone on the same page on this,” she said.

  She had a sparkle in her eyes that James had never seen before. Maybe she was right. Maybe this was her social life.

  **

  There was no kidding around or jokes cracked as Abby told them of the parameters of their new mission. She was convinced that they had found either another planet, possibly the tenth or an enormous object someplace in space.

  She outlined how they were going to proceed and decided that they would only work from 7:00 p.m to 7:00 a.m. The day shift was suspended until further notice.

  It was impossible not to catch her enthusiasm for what they were about to undertake. This was true for James most of all. When the meeting was over Abby ordered pizza for everyone and they just sat and talked for the next two hours. Discussions of possibilities ranged from quasars to alternate universes. Abby had been the one to bring up the theory that our universe may not be the only one. What if there were billions and billions of universes just like there were stars and galaxies.

  By the time they all left, they were not only motivated but ready to think outside the box which was exactly Abby’s intent.

  CHAPTER NINETEEN

  “Oh my God,” Abby said.

  Everyone stopped and looked at her. She was looking through the telescope with her mouth open.

  “What?” James asked.

  “We need to get the JPL on the line. I know what we have been seeing,”

  “What?” they all said in unison.

  “The largest planetoid ever recorded. I don’t know how big but we are going to do that as soon as I notify them. I’m almost positive that it is just beyond our solar system and incoming in our general direction. It will intersect it at some point. Where and when is the important thing.”
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  “Shouldn’t you get confirmation first? What if the JPL just blows you off?” James asked.

  “James is right. Don’t you know someone who can confirm your hypothesis?” Ruth asked.

  “Okay. I’ll do that. I know just the person I can trust and who will help us verify our findings.

  **

  “Amiée Laurent, it's Abby Montgomery.”

  “Abby. Yes, Yes. Lia was just talking about you last week. She said you had actually been here. I wish I could have seen you. I was back in France delivering a paper. Isn't it terrible about poor Louis? He was such a great man. He helped us both. I didn’t even have the maturity to thank him before the accident,” Amiée said.

  “I know. I have the same guilt. I was so caught up in my own world that I forgot how I even got here.”

  “You are not alone in that regard. I am just as guilty.”

  “Oh, that reminds me, congratulations on your new position. You must be thrilled.”

  “Yes and no. Yes I am happy to get the position but not so happy how it came about. It is a bittersweet blessing,” Amiée replied.

  “I can certainly understand that. Amiée, I need to ask a favor of you. I know it is rude to call and just drop this on you but I really would like your help.”

  “Abby, anything I can do, you know I will be glad to help. Tell me what you have in mind?”

  “Okay. What I’m about to tell you is unconfirmed at this point. That is why I am calling. My team has located what we believe to be a giant planetoid or asteroid. We think it is not far from our solar system and it appears, and I want to stress, appears, to be heading in our general direction,” Abby told her.

  “Abby, how sure are you of this data?”

  “Pretty darn sure Amiée or I wouldn’t bother you with this. We have been trying to prove or disprove the tenth planet theory and settle it once and for all but this was discovered while we were working on it.”

  “I see.”

  “I know how it sounds. I’m sure I would think much the same thing but Amiée it is there. I have seen it. We have been tracking it and logging the data for three weeks now. It exists,” Abby told her.