“Ah, but not quite. The other reason she is here is because I invited her,” Doctor Fassbinder replied, looking at him.
“I understand,” was all Doctor Yorga said and walked off.
Fassbinder took off his glasses, wiped the lenses with the end of his tie and shook his head. This was the easy part. Wait until they had to tell him he was not going to become the director.
No use worrying about that now. That announcement would be made after the funeral. Now all he wanted to do was take a nap and get rid of the pounding headache he had.
CHAPTER SIXTEEN
“Well, well, well. Look who’s back. And with a tan no less,” James said as Abby walked in.
“You know how it is. I was lying around on those beaches they have at the top of the mountains in Chili,” she kidded.
“You don’t call, you don’t write, I was beginning to think it was my breath,” James replied, walking over to her.
He was taken aback when she gave him a big hug.
“Well, that’s better than a letter any day.”
“James, you can’t believe the equipment they have. I mean we have nice stuff here but, wow! What they have is simply incredible! They were kind enough to let me spend a little time on the various telescopes, including the NNT. It really is mind boggling. If we had equipment like that or even access to it, we could prove or disprove the tenth planet theory in a matter of months.”
“They aren’t interested in knowing that?” James asked.
“Maybe in time. Right now they are searching for the end of the universe. They are reaching out to the very edge. If it hadn’t been for the fact that I went to say goodbye to Louis, it would have been a perfect trip.”
“I’m sorry about your mentor. I certainly understand how that could throw you for a loop,” James said blushing.
“Why James. I think you actually missed me.”
“Maybe a little.”
“I know. I thought about how you guys were left holding the bag. I know we are way behind but I’m back and raring to go,” she told him.
“Actually we are better off than you might imagine. I have been keeping the log up to date pretty well. We may have lost a day at most.”
“You’re kidding? You actually worked alone and were able to keep us that close?” she said.
“I think you will be surprised. I didn’t rush anything but I did keep at it. If I got too tired I would take a few minutes to regroup and then get back to it.”
“Wow. I didn’t expect you to carry the whole load while I was gone,” Abby said obviously impressed.
“I didn’t do it alone. Everyone did their jobs as well. The math gang would come by occasionally and bring a pizza and we would just talk. It helped break up the night. Ruth and Jeff even offered to work longer shifts if it would help. Everyone pitched in Abby,” James told her.
“I knew you were a diamond in the rough but I didn’t expect you to shine so fast. Truly an excellent job James. I’m proud of all of you. Thank you,” she said with tears welling up.
“Actually I got more out of this than I ever imagined. I am much more confident in my abilities now.”
She suddenly hugged him again and this time he hugged her back.
“Well,” she said after she released him, “I guess you would like it if you had a partner who pulled her weight.”
“Oh, you’re going to get me someone to actually help?” James said smiling.
“Now, now. Don’t be too cheeky after the nice things I said about you.”
“Listen, not to change the subject, but I do have one thing that is kind of nagging at me.”
“Just one?”
“Okay, one repeating thing. The first night after you left I thought I saw something kind of strange. By that I mean like a shadow or dark area someplace just behind Neptune. Or where I think Neptune should be. I only caught it for a minute and then it was gone. At first I thought it was just because my eyes were tired. The next night, just before Ruth and Jeff came on, I thought I saw it again. I can’t really explain what I saw but what I noticed most of all was that the stars behind the shadow were missing. Like something was blocking them out,” James told her.
“You saw the same thing in the same place twice?”
“Actually three times. Last night I noticed it as well. It might have been there before and I just didn’t catch it.”
“Did you write down the plot points?” Abby asked.
“Of course,” he said taking a pad of paper out of his backpack and handing it to her.
She looked at them for several seconds, frowning.
“And you were in the Aquarius Constellation, you’re sure?”
“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.