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“Definitely. We can actually capture it on our equipment—the most I’ve had is a drop in temperature of two degrees.”
“Wow!” Karen says.
“Was there a window open?” Ty asks.
Oh, I guess he is listening.
“What?” Niles asks.
“When the temperature dropped. Was there a window or a door open by any chance?”
Rude. Exactly what I was thinking, but still, rude.
Niles shakes his head. “No. The entire building was sealed up tight.”
“Perhaps there’s something wrong with your equipment then.”
“The Spirit Sensor 5000 is state-of-the-art. The best money can buy,” Niles tells him. “I assure you it’s not the equipment.”
“If I were trying to fool people into purchasing expensive equipment for searching for something that doesn’t exist, I’d make sure it randomly changes readings,” Ty says, tearing off a piece of donut and dipping it into the syrup. Holding it halfway to his mouth, he says, “That way the person using it would always believe there’s a chance, so instead of getting bored, they’ll keep it up and hopefully buy another one when it breaks.”
“Trust me, the folks at Paranormal Monitors and More are the real deal.”
I roll my eyes, then glance at Ty, only to see him watching me. He definitely saw that. My face heats up a bit and I return my gaze to my meal.
“Niles, I’ve heard that you mainly use electromagnetic readings for your research. Are there other types of readings you take?” Karen asks, batting her eyelashes at him.
Oh, get a room, you two.
He smiles. “Actually, we do a lot of work with rapid-scanning radio devices. Ghosts are able to rearrange words and phrases to communicate with us.”
“Fascinating,” she says.
“Say, Gwen,” Ty says. “You use radio frequencies to search for aliens, don’t you?”
I don’t have to look at him to know he’s smirking. I do look at him, of course, because I can’t seem to not do that, and he is, indeed, smirking. My skin heats up another few degrees. “Yes, but it’s hardly the same thing.”
“Isn’t it?” he asks. “AM/FM. Listening…”
“No. Not AM/FM at all,” I tell him, feeling super defensive but trying to act like I’m not. “Our telescopes capture the radio frequencies emitted by astrological objects. Things like nebulas, planets, and galaxies—which actually exist. No offense, Niles.”
He gives me a glare that says, ‘offense taken.’
Ty just grins at me. “And these galaxies, are they far, far away?”
“Some of them, yes,” I say, ignoring the obvious Star Wars reference. Dammit, he’s totally making fun of me. So much for making headway earlier…
“Wow, Gwen, I’m surprised a SETI researcher would have such a closed-off attitude when it comes to Niles’s work,” Karen says. “Do you also doubt the existence of Yeti?”
Crap. Now I’m going to have to go after the nice Canadian. “I believe in the Gigantopithecus, but they died out over 300,000 years ago.”
“I agree, they probably did die out at that time, but that’s not the same creature we’re looking for now. The modern-day sasquatch is something different—possibly related, but potentially having evolved from a completely separate species,” Karen says, narrowing her eyes a little at me. “But I can see by the look on your face that you think I’m insane.”
“Not insane,” I tell her, feeling Ty’s eyes on me. “Just … wrong. I can’t see how we wouldn’t have found any real evidence of them yet. I mean, not one?”
“I could say the same about aliens,” Niles says.
Stay calm, Gwen. Stay calm. Your entire life has trained you to win this argument, especially against such ill-equipped people. “Niles, we’ve long known that the universe is infinite and ever-expanding. The probability that Earth is the only planet to have the conditions for life on it is basically zero. Same with the idea that we’re the only version of intelligent life in the universe. Granted, the other such planets are far away, that’s true, and it may prove to be an impossibility to ever contact them, but they are out there, and with advancements in technology, we will likely find a way. Or they will find a way to reach out to us. Ghosts and Yetis, however? There really is no theoretical basis on which to believe in them, and there is no definitive proof of either. I’m sorry, but those are just facts.”
