Gravity Versus Gravity, page 23
“The old woman must be hearing our conversation over the wireless,” Amy said.
“Forget about niceties now. Let’s go inside the house,” Corwin said.
They ran inside. The old woman was asleep in her cot. Corwin shook the old woman. She did not respond. She was fast asleep. However, he did not want to take a risk. He put some chloroform on her nose, picked her up and put her in a large sack. Other men rounded up the animals and put them in more sacks lying around in the house.
Amy went inside the house once again. She collected the photographs and everything else that could have been valuable for the woman. In less than five minutes, everyone and everything was in the helicopter. The old woman was still asleep.
“Looks a bit cruel,” Amy said.
“Saving her life is our priority,” Corwin said.
When the old woman opened her eyes, she had already been transferred from the helicopter to a vehicle. Daylight was breaking, and the vehicle was not far from the Control Station.
“So, you had your way?” she said when she opened her eyes. Corwin was with her. He smiled.
“We want you to live strong for several more years. We’ll take you back to your place after the event is over. When you see the devastation, you’ll thank us that we brought you here.”
“I’ve not been out of that place for more than twenty years. The last time I came out in the city, I almost choked to death. I would have preferred to die there than leave the place. At least, I would have died where my parents died and where my husband is buried.”
“I understand your sentiments. But there is no way we could have left you there. If we had not known about you, it would have been a different matter.”
The old woman closed her eyes and once again went back to sleep. The Control Station was visible at the end of the road.
Corwin heard on the wireless, “Corwin, after you have dropped the old woman, please report to Aaron. He has found one more isolated house in the danger zone.”
“In the moor?” Corwin asked.
“No. In Higher Aston. It’s five kilometers to the east of the Park.”
“Do we have to walk again?”
“No. These places are accessible by road.”
Corwin heaved a sigh of relief. He looked at his torn shirt and untidy boots. He had never fought a battle but thought that it would not be much different. He looked at the old woman. He had saved a life. The feeling made him happy. She was not the first person he had saved. But whenever this happened, he felt that he was in the right job. At the Control Station, he handed over the old woman to the in-charge, got into another vehicle and headed towards Higher Aston.
19
Al had studied, researched, and recorded everything about the zero-gravity event.
“I’ve reached a dead-end. I can guarantee that no more information can be had about the event in the U.K,” he told Samantha three days before the zero-gravity day.
“But what about the accuracy?” Samantha asked.
“We cannot have more accuracy with the data and technology at our disposal.”
“Would any other Space Center have better technology?”
“I’m not only talking about the technology of this Center, but all that mankind has produced so far.”
“Will you sit and watch the event unfolding? No more work for you?”
“I wish it were so. There are other things associated with the binary comets. And the more I work on them, more surprised I become.”
“Have you have been able to come across anything?”
“Yes, the meteors. The shower started yesterday. The largest shower would take place after two days and going by the shower in the last one day, the prognosis is not very positive.”
“You mean meteors would hit earth?”
“They have already been hitting. The problem is not the quantity but the size of some of the meteors. I’ve estimated that during the peak after two days, at least a hundred large sized meteors will reach the earth.”
“Have you told Dr. Wardle about it?”
“I’m meeting him after two hours.”
After about an hour and a half, Dr. Wardle came to Al’s office. “You wanted to talk to me Al?” he said.
“Yes,” Al replied, “I’ve been working on the meteors.”
“You want to talk about the impact after two days?”
“How do you know?”
“I’ve received at least three other reports.”
“What do the reports say?”
“All three have reported that the meteor showers would peak after two days. And that some of the meteors may reach the ground.”
“Do the reports talk about an impact area?”
“No,” Dr. Wardle replied. “No one is as sharp as you on these matters. I’m sure you have the impact area.”
“Yes, I have it.”
“Great!” Dr. Wardle said.
“The good news is that most of the meteors reaching earth would hit the Atlantic Ocean.”
“And the bad news?”
“The bad news is that about ten percent of them may hit the other side of the Atlantic.”
“USA, Canada and Mexico?”
“No. Only USA.”
“Ok. I’ll convey a message to the Ohio Space Center.”
“I think this is my opportunity to connect to the Ohio Center,” Al said.
“Are you sure? They might still be very cross with you. They may not believe you or cooperate with you. The focus may change from the meteors to your relationship with the Center.”
“I’ve been running away from this for a long time. I’ve been living in fear. In suspense. I want to do something to tackle this.”
“We could wait till the zero-gravity event is over. After all, it’s only three days away.”
“I just cannot miss this opportunity. I’ll not be able to forgive myself if I don’t so now. And if I don’t do it, the next few days would be very difficult to bear. Either way, I’m ready for the consequences.”
“Okay. You could come over to my office at ten in the night. We would speak to Dr. Wiggins.”
“I’ll be there,” Al said.
Dr. Wardle left. Al looked at Samantha. She put her hands on his shoulder and said, “You are taking the right action. But what if the Ohio Center is in no mood to pardon you or even talk to you?”
“At least I’ll have clarity. I would be able to decide about my future if I clearly know where matters stand.”
Al could not concentrate on his work for the rest of the day. Samantha saw that he was agitated and thought it better to leave him alone. The only other time she spoke to him was when she brought coffee for him after the dinner. The conversation was for about two minutes with Samantha doing most of the talking.
Al would look at the clock every few minutes after the clock struck nine. He put on his jacket at half past nine and said to Samantha, “I cannot wait any longer. Let’s go to Dr. Wardle’s office. It may take us some time to get Dr. Wiggins on line. We might as well start trying now.”
Samantha was certain that Dr. Wardle would have already made the arrangements for Dr. Wiggins to be on the line at ten. It would take only a few minutes to make the call. Nevertheless, she did not try to convince Al. She got up, and the two of them walked in silence towards Dr. Wardle’s office.
Dr. Wardle looked at his watch when they entered his room. “You are early,” he said.
“I thought that we may start trying now so that we can get Dr. Wiggins by ten,” Al said.
“Everything has been tied up. The operator will connect us at ten,” Dr. Wardle said. He sensed Al’s restlessness and continued, “Let’s have a cup of coffee till we wait for the call.”
“We just had one,” Al replied.
“Another cup would not be too much on such an important day,” Dr. Wardle said with a smile.
Al had two cups of coffee in Dr. Wardle’s room. Just as Al had finished the second cup, the telephone rang. Dr. Wardle immediately picked up the phone and said, “Lawrence, this is Peter.”
He listened for a while and said, “Sorry. I was waiting for an important international call from our operator. If you don’t have anything urgent, could you please call me tomorrow?”
Dr. Wardle put down the phone, looked towards Al and Samantha and said, “I rarely sit this late in office. But whenever I do, some busy fellow calls me for sure. I don’t know how they get to know about it.”
“Your room light may be visible. And after all, you are the big boss,” Samantha said.
“In this Center, everyone is equal,” Dr. Wardle said and smiled.
“Do the scientists call you at this hour to discuss work?” she added.
“What else do scientists discuss? No one calls me to check how my family is. They have problems at work, and I must resolve them. Not all scientists are as practical as Al. Many in our Center don’t know where to draw the line. They don’t understand that even the Director needs some personal space.”
“I agree,” Al said. “But…” Before he had started the sentence, the phone rang again.
“This time it must be the operator,” Dr. Wardle said, picking up the phone.
Al straightened himself.
“Finally, it’s you,” Dr. Wardle continued. “Al would have given up his one month’s salary to hear this call from our night-shift telephone operator.” He winked at Al and Samantha and carried on, “Yes, yes. Please put the office of Dr. Wiggins on the line.”
After a brief pause, Dr. Wardle said, “Good morning. I presume you have told Dr. Wiggins that Al would speak to him on a space-work related issue pertaining to the USA.”
Al and Samantha could hear the person talking at the other end although the words were not audible.
“Good,” Dr. Wardle continued. “Please connect to Dr. Wiggins.”
After another pause of a few seconds, Dr. Wardle said, “Yes, Lawrence, good morning to you, too. Your old colleague is eagerly waiting to talk to you. I could have conveyed the message. But he feels that he owes it to the Ohio Center and to himself to talk to you directly on this. I’m now giving the phone to Al.”
Al got up from his seat and came to the side of Dr. Wardle’s chair to pick up the receiver. Dr. Wardle left his seat and gestured at Al to sit down.
“Good morning, Dr. Wiggins,” Al said.
“And a very good evening to you, Al,” Dr. Wiggins replied. “We have indeed been missing you.”
Al’s voice immediately calmed down. A good beginning, he thought.
“Well, Dr. Wiggins,” Al said. “In the last few days, I’ve been working on the meteors emerging from the binary comets.”
“We, too, have been observing them,” Dr. Wiggins replied. “But you must be knowing that it is not really a priority for us.”
“I understand. I wanted to convey that the East Coast may receive some of the larger meteors.”
“How big are they?”
“The largest may be about twenty centimeters wide when it hits the ground.”
“How many of them?”
“My forecast is that there may be about a hundred. Of these, most of them would fall into the Atlantic Ocean.”
“You know Simon Miller and Ellie Jordan?”
“Yes, I’ve worked with them.”
“They are the ones dealing with this.”
“Yes, they are meteor experts.”
“I had a meeting with them two days ago. They said that the peak would be one day before the zero-gravity event.”
“Yes, that is correct. What did they say about the meteors?”
“They said that one or two meteors may reach the East Coast.”
“There would be more.”
“Why don’t you call them and exchange notes?”
“Will that be okay?”
“Of course, that would be okay. No one at the Center holds any grudge against you. The Assistant Defense Secretary once summoned Dr. Blackstone. He has been keeping a low profile since. He might retire prematurely.”
“What about Dr. Schultz?”
“We had a large meeting chaired by him about a month ago. We were to discuss our Center’s strategy for the next six months. However, all of us ended up discussing you and your mission. Dr. Schultz was surprised that many scientists spoke favorably about you. At the end of the meeting, Dr. Schultz said that your departure was a great loss to our Center.”
Al felt uncomfortable listening to praises about him. He changed the subject, “Do Simon and Ellie still work in the same office?” he asked.
“You know they have always been there. You shared your room with them. Meteors are their passion, and they’ll be happy to retire from that office, too.”
“Thanks, Dr. Wiggins,” Al said.
“It was nice talking to you. I’ll tell about our conversation to our colleagues. They’ll be happy to know that we have been able to establish a direct link with you. Hope to see you once again at the Center one day,” Dr. Wiggins said.
Al was overwhelmed with emotion. He paused for a moment and then said, “Yes, it was great reconnecting with you. Time has just flown. I’ve been busy all my days in the UK. But whenever, I have free time, I often think about the Ohio Center.”
“Good luck, Al. You could call Simon and Ellie today.”
Al put down the phone and kept looking down.
“Emotional moment, eh,” Dr. Wardle said. “I had not thought about this. Now I realize why you were in a hurry to talk to the Center.”
“I’m glad I did it. A heavy burden is off my chest,” Al said.
Samantha came over to Al. He clasped her hands.
“I have to call Simon and Ellie,” Al said to Dr. Wardle. “Hope you are not getting late?”
“Of course, I’m getting late,” Dr. Wardle said with a smile. “But I’ll not come between you and the Ohio Center. I’m sure you don’t need the operator to make the call. I’ll leave the two of you in my office and head home before my wife goes off to sleep.”
Dr. Wardle switched off his computers, put on his coat and was out of the room within a minute.
“Do you know Simon and Ellie well?” Samantha asked.
“I’ve worked closely with them on some projects. Why do you ask?”
“Because if you don’t really know them well, you never know how they’ll react. They are your rivals. They are experts on meteors, and they may not like that you are contradicting them.”
“I’ll not contradict them. I’ll tell them what I’ve found. The Center would benefit from my information.”
“You are too naïve in some worldly affairs, Al,” Samantha said. “The Center has let you down once. For many people, their egos are more important than the welfare of their organization or country.”
Al, who was elated after his conversation with Dr. Wiggins, found it difficult to understand Samantha’s words. He had gone from absolute dejection to absolute elation in a matter of few minutes.
“No harm trying,” he said, picking up the receiver to call.
Al heard a female voice at the other end. “Is that Ellie?” he said.
“Yes, this is Ellie.”
“Hi, Ellie. This is Al calling from the Swindon Space Center.”
“Oh! Hi, Al! What a pleasant surprise. Simon and I talk about you often. If you were here, we would have had the opportunity to work again together.”
“Yes, I know. Just now, I spoke to Dr. Wiggins, and he told me that both of you are working on the meteors from the binary comets.”
“Right. We are working on meteors from the comets. Your comets.”
“In the last few days, I got some time to work on the meteors since the work on the zero-gravity event has reached a plateau.”
“Good to hear that,” Ellie said with a decrease in enthusiasm in her voice. In Al’s place, Samantha would have decided whether to take the conversation further. But Al continued to talk about the meteors. “I’ve found that about ten percent of them would reach the East Coast,” he said.
“Yes, we, too, anticipate so.”
“But, Dr. Wiggins said that you told him that one or two would reach the East Coast.”
“Ten percent would include the smaller ones, too. Only, one or two large ones would reach the East Coast.”
“I don’t think your calculations are correct. I’ve double checked my data, and I can tell that at least a hundred large meteors would reach the USA. Some would go as far as Kentucky or Arkansas. If you want, I could send you the information.”
“Al, you are not even a comet expert. You discovered the binary comets by chance. And now you are giving me this crap. Simon and I’ve spent more time researching on meteors and meteoroids than anyone else in the USA or in the UK, or maybe anywhere in the world. You should have some hesitation in saying that the calculations of the biggest expert on meteors are wrong,” Ellie said.
“Simon and you may be experts on meteors. But I’ve more knowledge about the binary comets. If we had individual comets, I would have believed in your calculations.”
“Individual or binary comets. Comets are comets and meteors are meteors. We know what we are doing.”
“The Center could benefit from additional information from me.”
“Look who is getting worried about the Center. You have deceived the Center once. The Center is able to survive without you.”
Samantha was looking at Al with panic in her eyes. She had an inkling that the conversation would go the way it was headed. She thought it good to intervene before everything ended badly. Just as Al was to open his mouth, Samantha gestured frantically that he put the phone down.
“No more,” she said softly to him. “You would not be able to convince her. She has made up her mind, and there is no point arguing with her.”
Al finally said, “Okay, Ellie. You have the right to have your opinion. If I had not deceived the Center, I would have deceived mankind. The Center is all yours. Carry on the good work that you are doing.”
Before Ellie could reply, Al had put down the phone.
“Happy?” Samantha said.
“How can she be so mean?”
“Turf war, Al. So long as you were not crossing paths with her, she was happy. Now, you are challenging her. She feels that she is right. Even if she was convinced that she was wrong, she would not have conceded to you. That is how bad turf wars can be. You are lucky to be a scientist. If you had worked in one of the public organizations as I did in the past, you would have known what work rivalry is like.”
“Forget about niceties now. Let’s go inside the house,” Corwin said.
They ran inside. The old woman was asleep in her cot. Corwin shook the old woman. She did not respond. She was fast asleep. However, he did not want to take a risk. He put some chloroform on her nose, picked her up and put her in a large sack. Other men rounded up the animals and put them in more sacks lying around in the house.
Amy went inside the house once again. She collected the photographs and everything else that could have been valuable for the woman. In less than five minutes, everyone and everything was in the helicopter. The old woman was still asleep.
“Looks a bit cruel,” Amy said.
“Saving her life is our priority,” Corwin said.
When the old woman opened her eyes, she had already been transferred from the helicopter to a vehicle. Daylight was breaking, and the vehicle was not far from the Control Station.
“So, you had your way?” she said when she opened her eyes. Corwin was with her. He smiled.
“We want you to live strong for several more years. We’ll take you back to your place after the event is over. When you see the devastation, you’ll thank us that we brought you here.”
“I’ve not been out of that place for more than twenty years. The last time I came out in the city, I almost choked to death. I would have preferred to die there than leave the place. At least, I would have died where my parents died and where my husband is buried.”
“I understand your sentiments. But there is no way we could have left you there. If we had not known about you, it would have been a different matter.”
The old woman closed her eyes and once again went back to sleep. The Control Station was visible at the end of the road.
Corwin heard on the wireless, “Corwin, after you have dropped the old woman, please report to Aaron. He has found one more isolated house in the danger zone.”
“In the moor?” Corwin asked.
“No. In Higher Aston. It’s five kilometers to the east of the Park.”
“Do we have to walk again?”
“No. These places are accessible by road.”
Corwin heaved a sigh of relief. He looked at his torn shirt and untidy boots. He had never fought a battle but thought that it would not be much different. He looked at the old woman. He had saved a life. The feeling made him happy. She was not the first person he had saved. But whenever this happened, he felt that he was in the right job. At the Control Station, he handed over the old woman to the in-charge, got into another vehicle and headed towards Higher Aston.
19
Al had studied, researched, and recorded everything about the zero-gravity event.
“I’ve reached a dead-end. I can guarantee that no more information can be had about the event in the U.K,” he told Samantha three days before the zero-gravity day.
“But what about the accuracy?” Samantha asked.
“We cannot have more accuracy with the data and technology at our disposal.”
“Would any other Space Center have better technology?”
“I’m not only talking about the technology of this Center, but all that mankind has produced so far.”
“Will you sit and watch the event unfolding? No more work for you?”
“I wish it were so. There are other things associated with the binary comets. And the more I work on them, more surprised I become.”
“Have you have been able to come across anything?”
“Yes, the meteors. The shower started yesterday. The largest shower would take place after two days and going by the shower in the last one day, the prognosis is not very positive.”
“You mean meteors would hit earth?”
“They have already been hitting. The problem is not the quantity but the size of some of the meteors. I’ve estimated that during the peak after two days, at least a hundred large sized meteors will reach the earth.”
“Have you told Dr. Wardle about it?”
“I’m meeting him after two hours.”
After about an hour and a half, Dr. Wardle came to Al’s office. “You wanted to talk to me Al?” he said.
“Yes,” Al replied, “I’ve been working on the meteors.”
“You want to talk about the impact after two days?”
“How do you know?”
“I’ve received at least three other reports.”
“What do the reports say?”
“All three have reported that the meteor showers would peak after two days. And that some of the meteors may reach the ground.”
“Do the reports talk about an impact area?”
“No,” Dr. Wardle replied. “No one is as sharp as you on these matters. I’m sure you have the impact area.”
“Yes, I have it.”
“Great!” Dr. Wardle said.
“The good news is that most of the meteors reaching earth would hit the Atlantic Ocean.”
“And the bad news?”
“The bad news is that about ten percent of them may hit the other side of the Atlantic.”
“USA, Canada and Mexico?”
“No. Only USA.”
“Ok. I’ll convey a message to the Ohio Space Center.”
“I think this is my opportunity to connect to the Ohio Center,” Al said.
“Are you sure? They might still be very cross with you. They may not believe you or cooperate with you. The focus may change from the meteors to your relationship with the Center.”
“I’ve been running away from this for a long time. I’ve been living in fear. In suspense. I want to do something to tackle this.”
“We could wait till the zero-gravity event is over. After all, it’s only three days away.”
“I just cannot miss this opportunity. I’ll not be able to forgive myself if I don’t so now. And if I don’t do it, the next few days would be very difficult to bear. Either way, I’m ready for the consequences.”
“Okay. You could come over to my office at ten in the night. We would speak to Dr. Wiggins.”
“I’ll be there,” Al said.
Dr. Wardle left. Al looked at Samantha. She put her hands on his shoulder and said, “You are taking the right action. But what if the Ohio Center is in no mood to pardon you or even talk to you?”
“At least I’ll have clarity. I would be able to decide about my future if I clearly know where matters stand.”
Al could not concentrate on his work for the rest of the day. Samantha saw that he was agitated and thought it better to leave him alone. The only other time she spoke to him was when she brought coffee for him after the dinner. The conversation was for about two minutes with Samantha doing most of the talking.
Al would look at the clock every few minutes after the clock struck nine. He put on his jacket at half past nine and said to Samantha, “I cannot wait any longer. Let’s go to Dr. Wardle’s office. It may take us some time to get Dr. Wiggins on line. We might as well start trying now.”
Samantha was certain that Dr. Wardle would have already made the arrangements for Dr. Wiggins to be on the line at ten. It would take only a few minutes to make the call. Nevertheless, she did not try to convince Al. She got up, and the two of them walked in silence towards Dr. Wardle’s office.
Dr. Wardle looked at his watch when they entered his room. “You are early,” he said.
“I thought that we may start trying now so that we can get Dr. Wiggins by ten,” Al said.
“Everything has been tied up. The operator will connect us at ten,” Dr. Wardle said. He sensed Al’s restlessness and continued, “Let’s have a cup of coffee till we wait for the call.”
“We just had one,” Al replied.
“Another cup would not be too much on such an important day,” Dr. Wardle said with a smile.
Al had two cups of coffee in Dr. Wardle’s room. Just as Al had finished the second cup, the telephone rang. Dr. Wardle immediately picked up the phone and said, “Lawrence, this is Peter.”
He listened for a while and said, “Sorry. I was waiting for an important international call from our operator. If you don’t have anything urgent, could you please call me tomorrow?”
Dr. Wardle put down the phone, looked towards Al and Samantha and said, “I rarely sit this late in office. But whenever I do, some busy fellow calls me for sure. I don’t know how they get to know about it.”
“Your room light may be visible. And after all, you are the big boss,” Samantha said.
“In this Center, everyone is equal,” Dr. Wardle said and smiled.
“Do the scientists call you at this hour to discuss work?” she added.
“What else do scientists discuss? No one calls me to check how my family is. They have problems at work, and I must resolve them. Not all scientists are as practical as Al. Many in our Center don’t know where to draw the line. They don’t understand that even the Director needs some personal space.”
“I agree,” Al said. “But…” Before he had started the sentence, the phone rang again.
“This time it must be the operator,” Dr. Wardle said, picking up the phone.
Al straightened himself.
“Finally, it’s you,” Dr. Wardle continued. “Al would have given up his one month’s salary to hear this call from our night-shift telephone operator.” He winked at Al and Samantha and carried on, “Yes, yes. Please put the office of Dr. Wiggins on the line.”
After a brief pause, Dr. Wardle said, “Good morning. I presume you have told Dr. Wiggins that Al would speak to him on a space-work related issue pertaining to the USA.”
Al and Samantha could hear the person talking at the other end although the words were not audible.
“Good,” Dr. Wardle continued. “Please connect to Dr. Wiggins.”
After another pause of a few seconds, Dr. Wardle said, “Yes, Lawrence, good morning to you, too. Your old colleague is eagerly waiting to talk to you. I could have conveyed the message. But he feels that he owes it to the Ohio Center and to himself to talk to you directly on this. I’m now giving the phone to Al.”
Al got up from his seat and came to the side of Dr. Wardle’s chair to pick up the receiver. Dr. Wardle left his seat and gestured at Al to sit down.
“Good morning, Dr. Wiggins,” Al said.
“And a very good evening to you, Al,” Dr. Wiggins replied. “We have indeed been missing you.”
Al’s voice immediately calmed down. A good beginning, he thought.
“Well, Dr. Wiggins,” Al said. “In the last few days, I’ve been working on the meteors emerging from the binary comets.”
“We, too, have been observing them,” Dr. Wiggins replied. “But you must be knowing that it is not really a priority for us.”
“I understand. I wanted to convey that the East Coast may receive some of the larger meteors.”
“How big are they?”
“The largest may be about twenty centimeters wide when it hits the ground.”
“How many of them?”
“My forecast is that there may be about a hundred. Of these, most of them would fall into the Atlantic Ocean.”
“You know Simon Miller and Ellie Jordan?”
“Yes, I’ve worked with them.”
“They are the ones dealing with this.”
“Yes, they are meteor experts.”
“I had a meeting with them two days ago. They said that the peak would be one day before the zero-gravity event.”
“Yes, that is correct. What did they say about the meteors?”
“They said that one or two meteors may reach the East Coast.”
“There would be more.”
“Why don’t you call them and exchange notes?”
“Will that be okay?”
“Of course, that would be okay. No one at the Center holds any grudge against you. The Assistant Defense Secretary once summoned Dr. Blackstone. He has been keeping a low profile since. He might retire prematurely.”
“What about Dr. Schultz?”
“We had a large meeting chaired by him about a month ago. We were to discuss our Center’s strategy for the next six months. However, all of us ended up discussing you and your mission. Dr. Schultz was surprised that many scientists spoke favorably about you. At the end of the meeting, Dr. Schultz said that your departure was a great loss to our Center.”
Al felt uncomfortable listening to praises about him. He changed the subject, “Do Simon and Ellie still work in the same office?” he asked.
“You know they have always been there. You shared your room with them. Meteors are their passion, and they’ll be happy to retire from that office, too.”
“Thanks, Dr. Wiggins,” Al said.
“It was nice talking to you. I’ll tell about our conversation to our colleagues. They’ll be happy to know that we have been able to establish a direct link with you. Hope to see you once again at the Center one day,” Dr. Wiggins said.
Al was overwhelmed with emotion. He paused for a moment and then said, “Yes, it was great reconnecting with you. Time has just flown. I’ve been busy all my days in the UK. But whenever, I have free time, I often think about the Ohio Center.”
“Good luck, Al. You could call Simon and Ellie today.”
Al put down the phone and kept looking down.
“Emotional moment, eh,” Dr. Wardle said. “I had not thought about this. Now I realize why you were in a hurry to talk to the Center.”
“I’m glad I did it. A heavy burden is off my chest,” Al said.
Samantha came over to Al. He clasped her hands.
“I have to call Simon and Ellie,” Al said to Dr. Wardle. “Hope you are not getting late?”
“Of course, I’m getting late,” Dr. Wardle said with a smile. “But I’ll not come between you and the Ohio Center. I’m sure you don’t need the operator to make the call. I’ll leave the two of you in my office and head home before my wife goes off to sleep.”
Dr. Wardle switched off his computers, put on his coat and was out of the room within a minute.
“Do you know Simon and Ellie well?” Samantha asked.
“I’ve worked closely with them on some projects. Why do you ask?”
“Because if you don’t really know them well, you never know how they’ll react. They are your rivals. They are experts on meteors, and they may not like that you are contradicting them.”
“I’ll not contradict them. I’ll tell them what I’ve found. The Center would benefit from my information.”
“You are too naïve in some worldly affairs, Al,” Samantha said. “The Center has let you down once. For many people, their egos are more important than the welfare of their organization or country.”
Al, who was elated after his conversation with Dr. Wiggins, found it difficult to understand Samantha’s words. He had gone from absolute dejection to absolute elation in a matter of few minutes.
“No harm trying,” he said, picking up the receiver to call.
Al heard a female voice at the other end. “Is that Ellie?” he said.
“Yes, this is Ellie.”
“Hi, Ellie. This is Al calling from the Swindon Space Center.”
“Oh! Hi, Al! What a pleasant surprise. Simon and I talk about you often. If you were here, we would have had the opportunity to work again together.”
“Yes, I know. Just now, I spoke to Dr. Wiggins, and he told me that both of you are working on the meteors from the binary comets.”
“Right. We are working on meteors from the comets. Your comets.”
“In the last few days, I got some time to work on the meteors since the work on the zero-gravity event has reached a plateau.”
“Good to hear that,” Ellie said with a decrease in enthusiasm in her voice. In Al’s place, Samantha would have decided whether to take the conversation further. But Al continued to talk about the meteors. “I’ve found that about ten percent of them would reach the East Coast,” he said.
“Yes, we, too, anticipate so.”
“But, Dr. Wiggins said that you told him that one or two would reach the East Coast.”
“Ten percent would include the smaller ones, too. Only, one or two large ones would reach the East Coast.”
“I don’t think your calculations are correct. I’ve double checked my data, and I can tell that at least a hundred large meteors would reach the USA. Some would go as far as Kentucky or Arkansas. If you want, I could send you the information.”
“Al, you are not even a comet expert. You discovered the binary comets by chance. And now you are giving me this crap. Simon and I’ve spent more time researching on meteors and meteoroids than anyone else in the USA or in the UK, or maybe anywhere in the world. You should have some hesitation in saying that the calculations of the biggest expert on meteors are wrong,” Ellie said.
“Simon and you may be experts on meteors. But I’ve more knowledge about the binary comets. If we had individual comets, I would have believed in your calculations.”
“Individual or binary comets. Comets are comets and meteors are meteors. We know what we are doing.”
“The Center could benefit from additional information from me.”
“Look who is getting worried about the Center. You have deceived the Center once. The Center is able to survive without you.”
Samantha was looking at Al with panic in her eyes. She had an inkling that the conversation would go the way it was headed. She thought it good to intervene before everything ended badly. Just as Al was to open his mouth, Samantha gestured frantically that he put the phone down.
“No more,” she said softly to him. “You would not be able to convince her. She has made up her mind, and there is no point arguing with her.”
Al finally said, “Okay, Ellie. You have the right to have your opinion. If I had not deceived the Center, I would have deceived mankind. The Center is all yours. Carry on the good work that you are doing.”
Before Ellie could reply, Al had put down the phone.
“Happy?” Samantha said.
“How can she be so mean?”
“Turf war, Al. So long as you were not crossing paths with her, she was happy. Now, you are challenging her. She feels that she is right. Even if she was convinced that she was wrong, she would not have conceded to you. That is how bad turf wars can be. You are lucky to be a scientist. If you had worked in one of the public organizations as I did in the past, you would have known what work rivalry is like.”
