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Monday Evening
The AutoCar drives along the Angeles Crest Highway through the San Gabriel Mountains, northeast of Los Angeles then turns on Red Box Road to wind its way up Mount Wilson.
Rick gazes out the window of the AutoCar as it cruises past the rocky terrain. His mind wanders back to the college party, where he first met Courtney.
Rick rarely went to parties, but midterms were over, and his friends Karl and Steven insisted he should get out and socialize. The party was at the house of a graduate student. Rick, Karl, and Steven filled plastic cups with beer from the keg, then settled in a corner of the living room as the house filled with people.
The conversation between Karl and Steven was going hot and heavy. “Explorer 2 is the next big leap for mankind in space. You can launch as many space telescopes as you like, but nothing compares to human observation,” stated Karl.
Karl was six feet two with a trim build and bushy reddish-brown hair. He always wore a sport jacket with a kerchief tucked in the pocket, even to class, and he always had what looked like a three-day growth of beard. The sport jacket made Karl look dashing and intelligent. At least Rick thought so. He wondered how Karl’s beard never got longer since it seemed he never shaved, and he never combed his hair. Karl wore glasses to complete his sophisticated look.
Steven was just under six foot but was so thin he looked taller. He had a narrow face and a sharp nose under long black hair. Steven always wore t-shirts printed with statements like; Never trust an Atom; they make up everything.
“Can you imagine being a volunteer on that spacecraft traveling through the solar system knowing you will never see Earth or your loved ones again?” asked Rick.
“Yeah, kind of weird if you think about it; drift through space until you die,” said Steven.
“Get over it. We’re all gonna die, dimwit. Why not do it for the future of humankind? Soldiers sacrifice their lives every day,” Karl opined.
The Explorer 2 program was to fly to Jupiter, then use gravity assist to slingshot the ship and its occupants to the far reaches of the solar system never to return to Earth. The crew would be civilian volunteers. Volunteers must be under twenty-five years of age and go through a three-month training program before the launch date.
When thousands across America volunteered, TV producer Kurt Burnette created a reality show called Launch Quest to select the volunteers. Each week, the contestants underwent a variety of mental and physical challenges. The program captivated America.
“Next week are the semifinals. They will go from twenty-four contestants down to twelve semi-finalists before selecting the final six who will ride off into history,” explained Karl.
“I like the kid from Texas. I think he’ll make it to the finals,” said Steven.
“You’re a nimrod. I knew you were rooting for that kid. He’s only sixteen and doesn’t have the intelligence or the education,” Karl insisted.
“He’s doing better than the college graduate from Georgetown who got kicked off last week,” Steven argued.
“Well, there won’t be any cows to milk in space, so the Texas boy has got to go,” Karl replied, with finality.
“Wow settle down. It’s just a TV show. The kid from Texas is smart enough, but he’s so young. My god, can you imagine him spending the rest of his life in space?” Rick asked.
“It’s not just a TV show dick weed. This is a critical space mission. It’s no place for a teat sucking kid,” said Karl.
“Hey, at least he’ll outlive all the others on the trip,” said Steven.
Rick was finishing his third beer and considering whether he should dare to have a fourth when he looked across the room and saw a group of girls enter the house. The girls were smiling and chatting as they looked around the room. Rick’s attention focused on the blonde in the center of the group. She seemed to glow. Her smile was radiant. Her hair and face perfect. He didn't realize he was staring, but maybe it was his stare that brought her eyes to his. Their mutual gaze locked as if a laser beam connected them. Rick stared his dumb stare. He didn't acknowledge her, wave, or nod his head. Her beauty absorbed him as the feelings of anticipation need and desire surged through his body.
She smiled, giving a shy turn of her shoulders. Rick hesitated for a moment, trying to compose himself. He smiled back, felt awkward, and then smiled again.
“Okay, maybe the kid from Texas has a chance, but what about Sandra, the cute girl from Tennessee? She killed it in the obstacle course. She is better than most of the guys and she’s smart, too!” said Karl.
Rick snapped out of his trance. “Guys, do you see the blonde across the room?” The guys scanned the room to find the girl Rick was talking about. “The one in the yellow skirt, over there. She’s the future mother of my children.”
“Back off butt-face, I saw her first. She’s out of your league,” scoffed Karl.
“I like the short brunette next to her,” said Steven.
“Sure, cut her hair short, put her in some Levi's, and she’d look just like your little Texas boy. I think Stevens queer,” teased Karl.
Steven stood frozen with a quirky pout.
“Lay off, Karl,” said Rick.
“I'm just playing. Don’t get your nuts in a bunch.”
Rick stared again. Somehow this moment was meant to be. It was déjà vu without ever having seen it before. “No, guys. I mean it. That’s the woman I will marry.”
“Just remember I saw her first numb-nuts. I could make my move, but I’ll let you get rejected first,” said Karl.
Steven chimed in. “You might want to let her know she'll be the mother of your children in case she has other plans.”
With that, Rick mustered his courage and walked across the room. Unlike his friends, he had talked to a girl before and had some idea of what he was getting into. In fact, he looked forward to it. He walked to the blonde and stuck out his hand to shake hers as if he were greeting someone at a business meeting. The girl hesitated, then looked down at Rick’s hand. She wasn’t prepared to shake hands, but she put her hand in his. Rick savored her warm soft skin and instead of shaking hands he just held her. They stood palm in palm.
“Ah, hi. I'm Rick. Rick Munday. I know we've just met, but I wonder if you would like to have dinner or a coffee sometime?” Rick was smart enough not to say; Hi, I know we’ve never met, but you will be the mother of my children.
The blonde looked at Rick and then across the room at his friends. Steven saw the girl look over at them and gave her a silly wave. Karl gave a thumbs-up.
“Is that the pickup line you use on all the girls?” the blonde asked.
“Pickup line? I didn't know it was a... No... I mean,” Rick stammered, trying to recover. “Was that a pickup line?”
“It sounded like a pickup line to me. We haven't met. You said your name was Rick, but you haven’t asked my name.” She smiled and let her eyelids flutter.
“Oh, sorry. I'm Rick. Oh God. I already said that. What’s your name?”
“I'm Courtney Greene. It's nice to meet you.” Courtney smiled again and gave the slightest curtsy.
“It’s nice to meet you,” Rick answered. His heartbeat raced. His face flushed as they continued to stand, palm in palm. Rick’s palm was getting sweaty. He tried to get control of himself and the situation. “So, now we've met, would you like to meet for coffee sometime?”
Courtney laughed. “You must really like coffee. We're here now. Why don't you introduce me to your friends?” Courtney removed her hand from his and motioned over to Karl and Steven who were deep in debate oblivious to the party around them.
“Oh no. That would ruin everything, I mean, those guys are just, ah...” Rick was stammering again.
“Your friends?”
“Yes, but maybe another time. You know, I heard this house has a big backyard, and it’s dark. There might be some stars out. Do you like stars?”
“I guess I like stars. I never think about them much. Do you like stars?”
“I do. They’re fascinating. There’s so much to learn and discover, so much we don't know or understand about our own solar system not to mention the galaxy we inhabit.”
“Wow, are you a rocket scientist or something? Joaney said some guys at this party would be from Cal Tech.”
“No, not a rocket scientist. I'm studying astrophysics.” Rick looked over at his buddies who had sucked two other guys into their discussion. “So are they. But let's go outside.” He then held out his hand to Courtney, not for a handshake, but to guide his future wife outside to discover the heavens.
That was how they met, and it was love at first sight for both. Rick loved Courtney completely. From that first night he was totally committed and fully in love. This was his woman who would soon be his wife. It was their third date before he dared tell her he had decided to marry her before they introduced themselves.
Rick opens his eyes as the AutoCar enters the parking lot at the top of Mount Wilson. He observes the building housing the sixty-inch Hale telescope which once had been available for public use by astronomy clubs and school field trips. These days, the observatory is locked.
The family sets out their picnic gear and telescopes at a table on the far edge of the grassy field. Uncle Rob orients the telescopes to prepare for viewing as Courtney looks to the darkening sky. “We’d better eat before we lose the light.”
Ethan tears into the food containers. “Ethan’s hogging the food,” Alyssa complains.
“He’s a growing boy,” Uncle Rob says, nudging a food container toward Ethan.
“There’s plenty for everyone, sweetheart,” Courtney says, handing a food container to Alyssa.
Rick eats as he gazes at the sky. “This is a new meteor shower. We believe it’s the result of a small rubble pile of asteroids; like gravel in the sky. There will be lots of shooting stars tonight.”
After the meal, Rick stands next to his uncle and they survey the sky. “Did they name this one yet?” asks Rob.
“I don't think so. This event is a complete surprise, discovered by an amateur. If JPL hadn’t been shut down, they’d be working to track its orbit. If it is orbiting, then the last time this clump of rocks passed near Earth was hundreds or even thousands of years ago. More likely this rubble pile is a new visitor to our part of solar system,” says Rick.
“Where do shooting stars come from anyway?” asks Ethan.
Uncle Rob provides the answer. “Meteor showers are generally composed of dust, ice particles and small rocks; remnants of comet tails as they speed past our planet.”
“Dad, your office is full of Astro guys. Why didn’t you see this one coming?”
“Most of the telescopes our team uses are down thanks to the Four Wars and budget cuts. This one is likely scattered debris, made up of hundreds or thousands of small rocks that don’t reflect much light making them nearly impossible to spot until they’re close to Earth. That is, if anyone’s looking.”
“And when the rocks get close to Earth, they shoot across the sky!” Ethan sweeps his hand over his head while making a zooming sound.
“As space rocks get pulled into Earth’s atmosphere, the resistance causes them to become super-heated. They break into smaller bits in a bright flash that streaks across the dark sky. Shooting stars! Most pieces burn up or explode high in the atmosphere, but occasionally larger meteors impact Earth’s surface or explode in the lower atmosphere before impact,” Rob answered.
Ethan stands next to his great-uncle. “I thought you knew all this stuff already, kiddo,” says Uncle Rob.
“I do, but I just like to hear it again. Hey, Dad, if nobody sees a meteor shower, did it happen?”
Uncle Rob chuckles.
Rick looks down at his son. “Is that your version of, if a tree falls in the woods when no one’s there, does it make a sound?”
“Yup, the space version!”
“Good one, son! How about this; Does it have to be dark for there to be shooting stars?”
“How else could we see them?” Uncle Rob asks.
Ethan shrugs his shoulders.
Rick answers his own question. “Meteors don’t know if it’s day or night. They come into our atmosphere whenever gravity pulls them in. If the meteor is big enough, you can see it in daylight. It’s called a daytime fireball.”
A series of flashes shoot across the northern sky. “It’s getting started,” says Uncle Rob. “How about we put these telescopes to work? We should be able to capture some great photos tonight.”
“Dad, can I use the CGE Pro and Oculus X? I love the way it lets me see the stars. It’s like I can reach out and touch them. Please, Dad, please,” Ethan begs.
Rick had looked forward to using the Oculus tonight, but he’s happy Ethan is interested in astronomy. There will be plenty of time later in the evening for Rick to get some time with Oculus.
“All right let’s get this on you,” Rick says as he fits the headset on Ethan, tightening the head strap.
Once Ethan is ready, he says the command, “Oculus ON!” The Oculus logo appears in the display. Ethan watches the boot-up screen. Motors on the telescope whine as it runs diagnostic checks and searches the sky to discover where in the world it is. The display switches to the telescope oriented on the moon.
The system tracks hand and head movements. Ethan moves his hands to zoom out. “Good evening, Mr. Man in the Moon.” He then turns his head viewing the starry night. The telescope moves in sync with Ethan’s head movements.
After a few minutes of zooming in and out looking at space, Ethan asks, “Dad, can you load the star map into the scope?”
“Still need a cheat sheet, boy?” Uncle Rob chides.
Ethan moves his head toward Uncle Rob’s voice. The telescope follows Ethan’s head movement. The large display covers most of the boy’s face. He nods his head up and down — “Uh huh”—causing the telescope to do the same. The motors whine in sync with Ethan’s head.
Rick turns to Rob. “He likes to use the star map so he can line things up.”
“Yeah, like I said, a cheat sheet.”
Rick lifts his band to his mouth. “Load Star Map, Northern Hemisphere to scope number one.” The band beeps in recognition and the star map loads into the scope. The star map creates an overlay of the known celestial objects into the scope and displays them in the Oculus.
Uncle Rob watches the fireworks in the sky. “Most astronomers over the past decades have focused on looking farther and farther away. It frustrates me. They love pushing images of billions of stars and cloud nebula out to the public, at least when Hubble, Kepler, and the Webb space telescopes were functioning. Those formations are thousands of light years away.”
“It didn’t help when Hubble dropped out of orbit and crashed to Earth. Talk about bad PR for the space industry, but images of deep space look so much better than a bunch of rocks in the asteroid belt. They titillate the public’s imagination to keep the funds coming in.”
Ethan giggles.
“What’s so funny, boy?” asks Uncle Rob.
“Dad just said tit.” Ethan giggles again.
“Yes, he did. Ricky boy, what are you teaching this boy of yours?”
Ethan steps to stand between his father and Uncle Rob. The boy focuses on his view of space. He seems to have forgotten his head is attached to his body, feeling as if he is soaring through space. A meteor shoots across the sky in a brilliant bright streak. Ethan follows the fast-moving streak with his head. “Whoa.” His body follows, tipping over, falling into his father. Rick pushes Ethan to a standing position. Ethan keeps the Oculus directed into space.
“What I am trying to teach him, if he’d keep his mind out of the gutter, is that patient study and exploration is important. We might discover something someday that impacts humankind,” Rick says in a fatherly tone. “Rob, you know I agree with you. Exploring space in our own neighborhood is more important than trying to study the entire universe.”
Another meteor streaks through the sky, sending Ethan off balance. This time he falls into Uncle Rob. Rob nudges the boy to a standing position. The men barely notice the teeter-tottering child. “I hope to hear news on my grant proposal any day now. I need this grant. At this point in my career, I should conduct my own research and publish my work. The grant isn’t just important for my career. It will provide for the family.”
“Ricky boy. The wars set lots of people back. Heck, The Four Wars set the world back. You served and came back to us. Things are getting better. The fact they’re even issuing grants again is a good sign. Better times are ahead, boy. You’ll see.”
“I think you’ll like the ideas I’ve been pursuing,” says Rick.
“What ideas?”
“There has been an increase in the number of new asteroids and comets observed in our solar system. I studied your paper on the cycle of asteroid bombardment. Based on my observations, I’ve built new computer models and come up with a hypothesis for the cause. It’s very interesting. But I need the grant, so I have the funds to learn more.”
Rob scoffs. “My paper? I thought you wanted funding. My theory got me booted down to the city college. I hope your ideas are better received than mine.”
A dazzling light streaks across the sky. It moves slower and goes farther than the other shooting stars, making it easy to follow. Rick looks over at the women in his life, sitting together on the picnic bench.
“Hey, girls, look. Don’t miss this one.” Courtney and Alyssa look to the sky.
Ethan leans back, back, back to watch the full progression of the shooting star as it streaks from one side of the sky to the other until he falls flat on his back in the grass. “Oomph. That was cool!” Ethan makes no attempt to get up. He just lies on the ground.
Uncle Rob looks down at the boy. “You’ve got a strange one there, Rick. Gonna have to watch this one.”
Rick looks down at his son. “Should be safer down there. Rick looks to the sky and adds, “There’s been an increase in comet discoveries the past few years not to mention an increase in atmospheric meteor activity. Just look at the sky tonight. We have a new meteor shower going off like gangbusters, and nobody saw it coming. The government defunded all the space and ground-based telescopes, so we can’t see what’s going on. I dug up all the old research on increased asteroid activity caused by the solar system moving through the galactic plane, but the timing is off. Something else is causing turbulence in the inner solar system.”
“Turbulence? What sort of turbulence are you talking about?” asks Rob.
“You theorized the solar system periodically moves through dust clouds containing rockier masses, which causes a higher frequency of asteroid impacts. I think you could be right. But this is something different. I believe a disturbance in the Kuiper belt sent objects to the inner solar system.”
“Earth has suffered from several asteroid bombardments in the past. I was trying to explain the cause of those periodic impacts,” Rob clarifies.
“I know. If I can get my grant funded, I’ll have the time and resources to confirm what I think is happening. I just hope, if I’m right, there’s time to warn people,” Rick laments.
“Well, there you go! Maybe now you’ll understand why I’m building the Hideaway. Call me crazy, but if Earth ever enters a phase of increased asteroid impacts, I want to have a safe place for us all.”
“Uncle Rob, you don’t hear me calling you crazy. I wish you would have come to me for help.”
“Nah, you’ve got the kids and Courtney to take care of.”
While Uncle Rob and Rick are deep in their discussion, Ethan lies on his back observing space. The asteroid belt fascinates Ethan. He uses voice command to bring up an overlay that directs Oculus to zoom in on his favorite dwarf planet. “Star map, load Ceres.”
A graphic overlay appears showing where Ceres is in space. “Oculus, zoom to Ceres.” The motors on the telescope whir. The telescope moves to target Ceres, zooming in on the dwarf planet in seconds. Ethan likes to zoom close enough to view the twin white spots on Ceres. As the telescope zooms in, the graphic overlay dissolves. Once the overlay disappears, the image of Ceres replaces the overlay, but Ethan notices something strange as the telescope zooms in. “What was that?”
Ethan motions for the telescope to zoom away from Ceres so he can examine the space beyond the largest object in the asteroid belt. He sees nothing unusual. He zooms out further. Nothing.
“Star map zoom to Ceres.” The motors of the telescope go through their gyrations. Ethan watches carefully as the telescope targets the dwarf planet. Just before the journey is complete and the graphic overlay dissolves, he spots several rocky bodies beyond Ceres.
Ethan pulls on his father’s pant leg. “Dad, how do new asteroids join the asteroid belt?”
Rick and Uncle Rob look at the boy lying on the ground. “New asteroids don’t join the asteroid belt. The asteroid belt has had the same configuration for millions of years,” answers Rob.
“Did you break the Oculus? That’s an expensive bit of kit we don’t own,” Rick admonishes.
“I don’t think it’s broken. I’m not sure, but I think I saw a bunch of asteroids that weren’t there before.”
Rick pulls the Oculus off Ethan’s head, ignores the straps, and fits it to his face. The view is of Ceres and open space with faint stars in the distance.
“I could only spot them as the scope zoomed toward Ceres.”
Rick uses hand gestures to zoom out, then speaks. “Star map, load Ceres” The graphic overlay appears and the scope zooms to Ceres. Just as the overlay fades away, he spots a cluster of almost invisible objects beyond Ceres. “Huh.” He gestures to zoom away from Ceres.
“What is it?” inquires Uncle Rob.
“Did you see them?” asks Ethan.
“I’m not sure,” Rick says as he pulls Oculus from his face. He punches in the coordinates for Ceres on the control screen, slows the zoom rate, and disables the graphic overlay. The motor’s hum as the scope moves to focus on Ceres. Rick looks through the Oculus. “They have very low reflectivity, but it looks like a field of rocky debris is moving through the asteroid belt.” Rick pulls the Oculus away from his eyes.
Ethan looks up at his father. “So, you do see them.”
“Is that your turbulence?” Rob asks.
“It shouldn’t be starting yet. I need to check the data but one of my models predicts—”
Rob interrupts Rick. “I think I need to buy those chickens for the Hideaway, sooner rather than later.”
Ethan is relieved he’s not in trouble. “Don’t forget the bacon!”
