I left town the next day, returning to London where I reside in Notting Hill. I’ve always retained an interest in astronomy and have recently thrown myself into the study of relativity. The laws governing the relative motion of one object with respect to another. I learned that time and space are subject to the same laws. And I nodded knowingly when I read that inside a black hole our physical laws no longer apply, but othersdo.
So what did happen to Alice? Has she returned to Earth? If not, will she ever? I sigh, realizing that even if she were to return one day, and emerge from the black hole like a golden phoenix with the knowledge of the ages, it will be far too late for me.
My mind is porous, I struggle not to forget. Even as I write these words the passage of time distorts, and will ultimately displace, the memory of the subtle features that once composed my beloved’s face.
The distant stars
BILL HOLT RUSHED INTO the starship’s meeting room thirty minutes late and set his banjo down on the metal conference table. “Sorry to keep y’all waiting,” he panted to the half dozen people. “Earl didn’t show up today.”
Skaggs, the top official from Galactic Mining, took a long slow sip of coffee. “Who’s Earl?”
Bill adjusted a couple of strings. Banjos were temperamental and had to be tuned constantly especially in the constant heat and humidity of this alien world.
“Earl Scruggs. Greatest banjo player of all time. Bluegrass legend. Flatt and Scruggs.”
Skaggs responded with a blank stare.
Captain Beth McNeil had been listening. “That’s what Bill named the alien who comes to see him every once in a while.”
“Every day,” Bill said, not looking up from the instrument. “Until today. Doesn’t make any sense.”
“You’re late,” Skaggs snorted.
Bill was weary of the contempt company men like Skaggs showed him. Even though the U. N. was supposedly running this mission the entire crew knew that Galactic pulled the strings.
“I hope y’all didn’t wait for me.”
“Don’t worry. We didn’t,” Skaggs grunted. He turned to the Captain.
“Continue. I’m sure the professor will figure out what he missed.”
Beth was the only one present who showed concern about Earl. “I’m sorry you can’t find Earl, Bill. I know he’s a friend of yours.”
Bill pulled out his battered laptop from his backpack to brief the Captain. Fifty light-years from Earth and he still couldn’t escape committee meetings. Listening to Skaggs posturing was worse than the anthropology department meetings at Appalachian State University. “Thanks, Beth. I hope Earl’s okay.”
Skaggs slurped the last of his coffee. “Waste of time, working with aliens.”
“Dr. Holt, can you tell us about your progress with the natives?” Beth asked.
Bill knew Beth was just being polite. The mission’s real point was to assess mineral deposits on the distant planet of Carnegie. He lapsed into the dry language of academia. “The natives are at least as intelligent as us. Carbon dating shows their civilization is half a million years older than ours. Yet, they are pretty much stuck in a hunting and gathering society. And we have a galactic empire with a star drive.”
Skaggs yawned.
“We heard all about these cavemen yesterday.”
“They don’t live in caves,” Bill snapped. “Earl picked up English in two weeks. He was learning the banjo.”
Skaggs smirked.
“You came all the way out here to teach cavemen country and western?”
Laughter erupted around the table.
“It’s bluegrass,” Bill muttered. He only agreed to come to Carnegie, because it bought him forgiveness of his student loans. Some academics went to prison for defaulting.
“Thank you, Bill.” Beth turned to Skaggs. “So, you think it will take another six or eight weeks to finish preliminary probing of the substrata?”
“Yep. My engineers tell me we can drill several more test shafts. This planet looks promising for satorium, cadmium, gold and a dozen other marketable metals. The company should be very happy.” Skaggs almost salivated. “There should be some nice bonuses for everybody. Especially if Galactic strip-mines the planet.” He pointed to Bill.
“Well, that is everybody who contributes in some way to resource development.”
“My job is to work with the natives,” Bill said. He studied Skaggs. They were both about the same age, but Skaggs was a high ranking executive with money and clout. Ten years after his Ph. D. Bill was still struggling to survive.
“And I’m sure you’ll get a nice bonus for that,” Skaggs said. “Maybe you can pay off your student loans someday, eh doctor?” He let out a harsh laugh.
“My personnel file is none of your business,” Bill said.
“I didn’t look at your file,” Skaggs said. “Every damned professor I’ve ever met has student loans. Just throwing money down the drain, pal.”
“Mr. Skaggs, I’m running this briefing,” Beth said in a firm voice.
Skaggs chuckled. “Sure, Captain, sure.”
Bill cringed. They had been here half a year, months longer than any previous expedition. Every time he thought they might go home Corporate extended the stay. “Is our departure date definitely in two months then?”
Beth shook her head. “No. Our departure date is contingent on data analysis.”
On what Galactic wanted, Bill thought.
“I should mention, Captain, that my engineers have concerns about some unusual electromagnetic readings. They’ve been persistent for months. Last night they were off the charts and spiked ten thousandfold for a few seconds,” Skaggs said.
“Is there any danger?” Beth asked.
Skaggs shrugged. “I doubt it.” He rose and poured himself another cup of coffee.
***
Bill walked down the gangway into the knee-high grass that surrounded the ship. Monstrous tendrils of what resembled ivy snaked halfway up the massive ship supports. He wondered how long it would take the plants to cover the ship.
He couldn’t see more than twenty or thirty feet ahead of him through the shroud of mist.
It was hot like every other day on Carnegie. This place was worse than North Carolina in August. It must be ninety degrees already and the day had barely started. He wiped sweat off his face and sludged towards the village to find Earl.
Bill stepped on the slick mossy trail to Jugtown. He didn’t know the real name of the settlement, if there even was one, because he couldn’t decipher the natives clucking and chirping