Page 26 of See the Stars

Alice studied the slide on the screen. She was well into her PhD now and she loved every minute.

Well, maybe not every minute. There were some things she wasn’t so keen on.

She frowned at Professor Boxley. He was talking about Rigel’s stellar winds again, but Alice found herself distracted by Betelgeuse, which had snuck into the corner of the image on the screen as if it were trying to photo-bomb the blue-white giant that dominated Orion.

Usually Rigel outshone Betelgeuse, but in the image the red supergiant was brighter. By how much? In her notebook, Alice began to sketch out the magnitude variations. Now, if it was brighter than Rigel, that meant it was . . .

‘Alice? Away with the fairies again?’

Shit. Alice looked up from her notebook at Professor Boxley, certain he never asked any of the male members of the team about fairies.

‘No,’ she replied. ‘I was just doing some photometry on Betelgeuse. In your image, it’s—’

‘That’s not what I was talking about. Now, I know everyone tells us that women are better at multitasking than men,’ said Professor Boxley, pulling a face that generated a gentle trickle of laughter from a couple of the group. ‘But still, a little focus wouldn’t go amiss.’

‘To be fair, I don’t think any of us are more focused than Alice.’ Alice glanced at Callum, who shot her back a small smile. ‘Just read her research on habitable zones.’

Alice smiled back to be polite, but she didn’t need anyone to fight her battles for her. ‘Sorry, Professor,’ she said, unable to resist a little dig. ‘You’re right. My mind wanders sometimes while you’re talking. My fault, I’m sure.’

‘I’m sure too,’ said Professor Boxley. ‘Stay behind after class.’

When had things gone so wrong? The further she progressed in her studies, the less she agreed with what her professor said and the more things between them had soured.

She tried not to antagonise him, but she couldn’t always stop herself.

It didn’t help that the mistake she’d pointed out as an undergraduate had prompted a reassessment of his discoveries about Gliese that was ongoing and, apparently, embarrassing.

She managed not to let the sigh she could feel escape her lips. ‘Of course, Professor,’ she said instead. She needed him if she was going to finish her PhD. ‘Thank you.’

Alice stood in front of the table where Professor Boxley was taking his time finishing off what he was writing.

She shifted her weight from one foot to the other and coughed deliberately in a way that she hoped sounded accidental.

He didn’t look up. She glanced at her watch.

‘Sorry, Professor,’ she said, deciding enough was enough.

‘But I do need to get going. The sign-up sheet for the telescope will be out soon and I don’t want to get stuck with a full-moon slot again. ’

‘You aren’t using a ground-based telescope for your PhD research, I hope?’ Boxley laughed, to highlight the ridiculousness of the idea.

‘Some side research,’ said Alice. ‘Into Betelgeuse. So really I do need to get going . . . ’

‘You graduate students are always in a hurry,’ said Boxley, gesturing for her to sit down. ‘But you need to do your time. Put the work in.’ He put down his pencil. ‘Listen to your professors.’

‘OK,’ said Alice, trying to ignore the kerfuffle in the hallway. It meant the sheets were there already. ‘Sorry.’

‘Remind me of your thesis topic?’

‘I’m working on detection methods for exoplanets,’ said Alice, though Boxley was, of course, well aware of her research. ‘Preferably in a habitable zone.’

‘Oh yes, a glory-seeker,’ said Boxley. ‘Everyone wants to find the next earth, eh? And have you thought about what to do afterwards?’

‘After I’ve found the planet?’

Boxley laughed. ‘You’re hilarious,’ he said. ‘No, I mean after your PhD.’

‘I want to stay on at university,’ said Alice, trying to swallow her annoyance, ‘and continue my research.’

‘Because there are other very good career paths for astrophysics graduates with strong maths skills,’ said Boxley. ‘I hear there are some very competitive salaries in the financial industries.’

Alice looked at him. Was that a threat?

‘You were a very promising undergraduate,’ he said. ‘But students who struggle with the collegiate hierarchy might find themselves happier outside of academia.’

It was a threat.

‘I’m sorry,’ she said, trying to sound sincere. ‘I’ll pay more attention in group meetings.’

‘That’s what I wanted to hear,’ he said.

He studied her, his gaze somewhat lower than she felt comfortable with.

She found herself shifting, her hand finding the neckline of her V-neck jumper under his scrutiny.

‘A little respect,’ he added. ‘That’s all I ask.

And then we can be friends.’ He paused. ‘It’s the physics fundraising gala next week. Will you attend?’

‘It’s not really my thing,’ she said. ‘I’d rather spend more time on the telescope.’

‘Make it your thing,’ said Boxley. ‘Teamwork is an important part of the department. You need to get along with people if you’re to get ahead. Especially your professors,’ he added.

Alice frowned, not sure what he meant. ‘OK,’ she said. ‘I’ll come.’

‘It’s a formal event. Wear something nice,’ he said, dismissing her with a flick of his hand. ‘That will be all.’

Alice went to the corridor and hurried to the sign-up sheet. Damn it. The only slot left was that evening, and the moon would be almost full. She wrote her name down anyway, then smiled.

Even with the glare of the moon, a night with the stars was a treat. She couldn’t think of a better way to spend her evening.

Alice peered through the telescope. It was no good.

The moon was flooding the night sky with so much light that only the very brightest stars were visible and even the computer couldn’t filter out the glare.

She could only just make out Betelgeuse, burning egg-yolk orange as it careered its unusual path across the sky.

Well, careered was a bit of an exaggeration, as its distance meant that its movement was imperceptible from earth, but at thirty kilometres a second, it was certainly on the move.

‘Hey there!’ It was Callum, poking his head around the door. She could hear the others in the team laughing in the hallway. They must have already had a few beers at the union. ‘Fancy coming for a drink?’

Alice looked at the telescope. ‘No, you guys go,’ she said. ‘I have a bit more to do here.’

‘Don’t you need to let off some steam?’ Callum asked. ‘You look like you’ve been working flat out.’

‘I’m fine, thanks,’ said Alice. She smiled. ‘This doesn’t even seem like work,’ she added, already longing to get back to the sky. She’d take even an imperfect sky over a drink in the union any day. Or, more accurately, any night.

‘If you’ve got a pencil instead of a drink in your hand, it’s work,’ said Callum.

Before she could reply, she was interrupted by Zelda, who came crashing into the room like a meteorite. ‘That damn moon,’ she said, pushing Alice to one side so she could look through the telescope. ‘I’d say we could do without it, but then the earth wouldn’t be at a tilt . . . ’

‘And we wouldn’t have seasons, or tides. And that means that the evolution of life would probably never have taken place, so . . . ’

‘So you’ll put up with a bit of glare,’ said Zelda. ‘Betelgeuse is a good colour. Rocks are like rainbows, but too many stars are just white.’ She looked at Alice. ‘But I bet that isn’t why it’s your favourite.’

‘It’s escaped the gravitational pull of its neighbours,’ said Alice, ‘and is roaming the skies. They reckon it only has a hundred thousand years left before it runs out of gas.’

‘That’s not much of a life for a star,’ said Zelda.

‘I bet it’s worth it, though,’ said Alice, thinking of what her grandfather used to say. ‘It isn’t sticking around doing what others think it should. It’s decided what it wants to do and is going for it.’

Zelda looked amused. ‘You astrophysicists are such romantics,’ she said. ‘You do know that it’s just a burning ball of hydrogen?’

‘And we’re just a blend of oxygen, carbon and hydrogen,’ said Alice, giving her friend a little push.

‘Don’t forget nitrogen,’ said Zelda. ‘That’s what makes us special.’