AllFreeNovel
Share Us
I look over at him, my heart swelling at the very sight of him. “Do me a favor, okay?”
“Sure.”
“Don’t be too nice to me today.”
He narrows his eyes and glances at me for a second. “Why not?”
“I just… I don’t think I can explain it, but it’ll just be easier for me.”
He nods and lets out a sigh. “I think I understand.”
“See? That. Right there. You should say something like ‘that makes no sense at all,’” I tell him.
He chuckles a little. “Sorry. I’ll try harder to be an obtuse jerk.”
“Thank you. That means a lot to me.”
25
How Can It Be So Cold and So Hot at the Same Time?
Hudson
By the time we pull up, it’s snowing so hard, it’s a whiteout. I crawl up the long, winding driveway, hoping I’m not about to go off into the ditch. I pull to a stop next to a long one-story building and look down into a field with rows of enormous radio telescopes all lined up. “You don’t happen to have winter boots, do you?” I ask her, thinking ahead to how cold our ankles and feet are going to be if we actually trek out into that field.
“No, but they have several sets inside. Goose down coats too. Glen, the senior engineer, will get us all set up.”
We hurry inside the lobby, and when I look around, I see that to our left is a large office with three desks set up and a whole lot of computers and other equipment. To our right, there’s a lunchroom. A note is taped to the door leading to the office, and Allie reads it aloud.
Allie and Hudson,
Welcome. We beamed out early and will be in Redding for the day. Should be back by five and are excited to meet Hudson. The diaphragm pump on 3E needs replacing and I thought it would be a good way to show Hudson how the telescopes work. All the parts are in the shed. Help yourselves to whatever’s in the fridge and cupboards. We’ll be back as soon as possible with fresh haircuts and lots of food. Hopefully you can stay to have supper with the team so we can catch up with you and answer any questions Hudson may have.
All the best,
Glen
“Beamed out. Is that a radio astronomer joke?” I ask her.
“It is.”
“I had no idea how funny your people are.”
“You didn’t laugh.”
“Exactly.”
She grins at me. “Why don’t I take you on a tour of the facility first. Hopefully the snow’ll let up by the time we’re done.”
We spend two hours on the tour. The facility is all under one roof, including the living areas and the offices. The kitchen leads to a living room with a fireplace and a big television, then four small bedrooms and two bathrooms. It’s pretty basic, but it’s cozy and has everything a person would need to live comfortably. Most of our time is spent in the observatory room, looking at computer screens. Allie’s full of enthusiasm as she explains how they capture the data and we sit, side-by-side, watching as the information is displayed in real time. “See that line there? It’s a quasar. You can tell by the very broad emission lines on the chart.”
“How long did it take you to learn to tell everything apart?”
“A few weeks. But once you start to see the patterns, it gets easy. For someone like Glen, who’s been doing this for decades, each of these charts is like reading a story. He knows exactly what’s going on up there.”
God, I want to kiss her right now. So, so badly. “Fascinating.”
“No, it’s not.”
