Page 30 of See the Stars

Alice sat in front of reams of data on the university computer.

Weeks had passed and she’d hardly made a dent.

It was starting to feel hopeless. It was painstaking work inputting the files, looking for the tiny blips in each star’s data that could be caused by the gravitational pull of an orbiting planet.

The chances of finding a habitable exoplanet were so remote. Spotting the wobble. Discounting other factors. Verifying the planet. Being in the right zone.

Even so, it would probably be uninhabitable, and almost certainly devoid of water. But still.

A chance.

‘You’re still here?’ Zelda poked her head around the door. ‘There’s pizza in geology.’

Alice stifled a smile. ‘Are you guys having a late-night rock emergency?’ she teased. ‘Something that formed over millions of years has shifted a millimetre and a stone has fallen?’

‘There’s been volcanic activity in Iceland, smarty-pants. We’re watching it on live stream.’ Zelda smiled. ‘You know, the world is much more likely to be destroyed by one of my super volcanoes than by one of your asteroids.’

‘Sorry,’ said Alice. ‘This stuff is making me bad-tempered.’

‘Pizza?’

‘Yes please. I’m so hungry these numbers are starting to dance around like ants.’

‘Low blood sugar,’ said Zelda. ‘I’ll be right back.’

Alice blinked, trying to get the numbers to be still.

Then she looked at them again.

There was something there, something unexpected.

She blinked once more, then closed her eyes and took a deep breath. She opened her eyes again.

The numbers didn’t lie. It wasn’t caused by low blood sugar; it was not a trick of the eyes.

The numbers showed a slight dip in the light from that star, as if something was passing in front of it.

As if a planet was in orbit.

‘It’s the physics department ball soon,’ said Professor Boxley. ‘I hope you’ve got your dresses ready?’ He looked at Alice, who looked away.

‘I bought mine months ago,’ joked Callum.

‘I look forward to seeing it,’ replied Boxley, smiling at the grad students. ‘Now, to business. What have you all got for me today?’

Alice decided to let the others go first before she announced her potential discovery and all else was forgotten. ‘Go ahead, Callum,’ she said.

‘Passing the buck, eh, Alice?’ said Boxley, turning on her.

‘Not at all,’ said Alice, looking forward to wiping the smug smile from his face. ‘I was just being polite. A team player.’

Boxley looked amused. ‘Why don’t you go first?’ he said. ‘Tell us about the data. It’s been six weeks now, hasn’t it?’

‘Seven,’ said Alice.

‘I’m pleased you’re keeping track. What with your review meeting coming up.’

‘I’m looking forward to it,’ said Alice.

‘I take it you have nothing to report? So yes, let’s hear from Callum.’

Alice opened her mouth to contradict him, then closed it again. A plan started to form in her mind.

It might not strictly follow university protocol, but the risk was worth it.

Tenfold.

‘So how did Boxley react when you told him what you’d found?

’ Zelda was sitting with her feet tucked under her on their rather saggy but incredibly comfortable sofa.

The living room in the flat they shared was tiny, but it had the high ceilings typical of the Victorian tenements in Edinburgh.

It always made Alice feel like they were sitting in a rather unusually shaped hole. ‘I bet he was excited.’

Alice shifted on the sofa. ‘Not exactly.’

‘He was impressed, though?’ said Zelda, untucking her legs so she could lean forward. ‘That you took a punishment and turned it into a discovery for the team.’

‘I didn’t tell him,’ admitted Alice. She tugged at a tiny strand of something sticking out of the sofa and a small white feather emerged.

‘What?’

‘If I told him, he’d take credit,’ said Alice, brushing the skin on the back of her hand with the feather to avoid having to look at Zelda.

‘He’s the head of department,’ said Zelda. ‘He has every right to be the lead on this.’

‘Then he’d be rewarded for spite,’ said Alice. ‘It’s not right.’

‘I hate to tell you this,’ said Zelda. ‘But the sky is above all our heads. The data isn’t exclusively yours either. Anyone could find this if you don’t report it, and then your name won’t even be on the research.’

‘He’ll make sure it’s not there anyway,’ said Alice, flicking the feather away. ‘He’s a vicious dinosaur.’

‘Alice, he’s forty-five. I know you don’t like him, but he’s one of the youngest professors to be published in Nature , and his work on Gliese 581 was seminal. At the time.’

‘Just because you find him attractive doesn’t mean he’s not a creep.’ The minute the words escaped her, Alice regretted them.

‘What do you mean, a creep?’ asked Zelda.

‘Nothing,’ said Alice quickly. She looked down. The feather was on the wooden floor now and had joined forces with a small dust bunny that had emerged from under the sofa. ‘I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have said that. About you finding him attractive.’

‘You shouldn’t,’ said Zelda. She twirled a bracelet on her wrist. ‘It’s not about what he looks like. I’m just saying, you should think about this.’

‘I have done. I’ve got a plan. I am going to report it. I’ll tell Boxley all about it. But first, I’m going to do some more research.’

‘What for?’

‘I’m going to do everything I can to confirm the presence of the planet and identify its size and nature.’ Alice smiled.

‘Why?’

‘So that when I report it, all the evidence so far will be attached to my name in a way that means he can’t possibly not include me on the paper.

That way I’ll get credit, he’ll get credit, the department will get more resources, and who knows, perhaps one day when our sun dies, we’ll all move to Planet Thorington. ’

‘I want to be supportive,’ said Zelda. ‘But even to me, that sounds ill-advised. Your supervisor needs to be in the loop.’

‘I don’t want him in the loop.’

‘That’s not the point. Alice, it’s not ethical to do this. You’re part of a department, not some rogue shooting star.’

‘You think it’s wrong?’

‘I do,’ said Zelda. ‘Promise me you’ll report it?’

Alice hesitated. ‘I’ll think about it.’