“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. Sometimes 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.