Page 32 of See the Stars

Alice had skipped the annual physics ball and gone home for the weekend. She didn’t go home often any more, not without her grandfather there. It made her too sad, just her and her mother. Even her brother had been too busy with his garage to join them, and Matt was away with the army.

She was pleased to be back in Edinburgh and pleased to have missed the ordeal of the ball. She dropped her bag in the hallway and went straight through to the kitchen. The train had been out of sandwiches, and three bags of crisps later she was still ravenous.

‘You’re back,’ said Zelda. ‘Sorry, that was an unnecessary statement. You know you’re back and I know you’re back. I can’t stand redundant language in others, and here I am doing it myself.’

‘You’re very chatty,’ said Alice. ‘What’s up?’

‘I’m just excited,’ said Zelda, though she didn’t look it.

‘How was the ball?’

‘Are you hungry? I made my special vegan sausage rolls.’ She gestured to a tray sitting on the counter. Alice grabbed one; they were still warm from the oven.

‘Amazing. Thanks.’

‘How was home?’

‘My mum wanted to know if I was ready to get a job in The City yet,’ Alice said.

‘Again.’ She paused. ‘She did do my laundry, though.’ She took a bite, and flakes of pastry fluttered to the table like snow.

She brushed them up with her fingers and popped the debris into her mouth.

Zelda’s pastry was too delicious to waste. ‘How have things been here?’

‘Is your sausage roll nice?’ asked Zelda.

‘It’s lovely,’ replied Alice. She looked at Zelda. Her friend was tapping her fingers more than usual in a particularly jittery rhythm that made her suspicious. ‘But you didn’t answer my question. Has anything happened?’

‘I just wanted to check the filling was OK. I wasn’t sure if I’d added too much parsley, the herbs can give it a leafy sort of taste that sometimes—’

‘It’s delicious,’ interrupted Alice. ‘What is it? You’re OK, aren’t you?’ Her eyes flitted automatically to Zelda’s braceleted wrists.

Zelda tugged at her sleeves. ‘Yes,’ she said. ‘I’m fine.’

‘So what is it then? You have to tell me.’

Zelda sighed. ‘Why don’t you eat first?’

‘Now!’

‘OK.’ She hesitated. ‘I . . . ’ She stopped herself and pulled at a bracelet. ‘They . . . found some stuff in the astrophysics department.’

Alice almost laughed. ‘Is that all? I thought someone had been injured.’ She studied Zelda’s face. It was serious. ‘What did they find? I take it it’s not a new telescope.’

‘No,’ said Zelda. ‘Sorry, that was misleading. They didn’t find something inside the building, not per se. They found something on the readings. Something that’s in the sky.’

Alice bit her lip. ‘Not . . . ’

‘Yes,’ said Zelda. ‘I’m sorry. I thought you had reported it to Boxley already,’ she said. ‘But it seems you hadn’t done it yet.’

‘I was going to,’ lied Alice. ‘I just hadn’t had the chance. And now . . . When did this happen?’

‘Just yesterday. I think. They’re putting together a proposal to get data from the observatory in Chile.’

Alice took a breath, then stood up. ‘I’m going over there,’ she said.

‘Chile? You’ll never get funding.’

‘No,’ said Alice. ‘The astrophysics department. I need to know what’s going on.’

Alice tried to keep herself calm, but she could feel her emotions bubbling near the surface, threatening to escape her like solar flares. How could this have happened?

She remembered what Zelda had said. The sky wasn’t hers. Others had access to the data.

But she just couldn’t believe anyone else could have put the elements together as she had.

Callum was the second-best astrophysicist in her programme, but his focus was on symbiotic stars.

Professor Boxley didn’t do his own research any more.

No one else had been looking at that data. How had it happened?

Maybe Zelda had got the wrong end of the stick. Astrophysics wasn’t even her field.

Yes, that would be it. She’d misunderstood. They’d seen some boring old gas giant, not her earth-like exoplanet in the habitable zone.

She took a breath and pushed open the lab door. Boxley and Callum were gathered around the computer. ‘What’s going on?’ she asked, trying to keep her voice calm. ‘I hear you guys might have found something interesting?’

‘Only the closest earth-like exoplanet ever discovered!’ said Callum. ‘I’m switching my research.’

‘You all are,’ said Boxley. He smiled at Alice. ‘Except you, as you were looking for this already. And I’ve found it.’

Alice opened her mouth, but no words came out.

‘What’s the matter?’ asked Boxley. ‘You should be pleased. We’ve found what you’ve been looking for. We are a team, after all. And we all share what we find with each other.’

‘Of course,’ said Alice. ‘I’m impressed,’ she managed. ‘I didn’t know you were even looking.’

‘It was luck,’ said Boxley. ‘I glanced at the readings while you were away. As I said, it’s all about teamwork. Then there it was. A blip in the data. Small and hard to see, but there nonetheless. I’m surprised you didn’t spot it, with those eagle eyes of yours.’

‘You said it was small,’ said Alice. Did he know? Did he know she’d found it first and kept quiet?

‘No matter,’ said Boxley. ‘You’ll be a part of the research team, of course?

’ he offered. ‘There’s a lot to do. We need to do much more work and verify by as many means as possible.

Then we’ll need to find out more about its composition – we’ll be great candidates for more resource from the space telescopes now, as well as the groundbased observatory in Chile.

It will take a great deal of research to establish that it is what we believe it to be.

And then we can prepare the paper for Nature .

’ He smiled again. ‘And I expect the national papers will be interested too. Perhaps even TV.’

‘I think so,’ said Callum. ‘If it’s a planet that could one day support life.’ He paused. ‘If it doesn’t already . . . ’

‘Let’s not get ahead of ourselves,’ said Boxley.

‘This is just the first step. But it is amazing news. The department will likely get more funding – this is just the kind of thing that excites the donors.’ He glanced at Alice.

‘You might need to get that green dress on again,’ he told her.

‘Lay off the pies, perhaps.’ She opened her mouth to object, but was still too stunned.

‘This is good news for all of us. The whole team.’ He looked directly at her. ‘As it should be.’

‘So what really happened?’ Alice asked Callum. It was just the two of them left in the lab now.

‘What do you mean?’

‘Boxley just happened across my exoplanet?’

‘ Your exoplanet?’

‘Yes,’ said Alice. ‘I found it first.’

‘You didn’t report it.’

She bit her lip. She hadn’t. ‘I wasn’t sure yet,’ she said. ‘I was going to do a little bit more research, just to be certain . . . ’

‘You were going to take all the credit for yourself, you mean?’ said Callum.

‘No,’ said Alice. ‘I just . . . ’ She stopped herself. She was going to share it, but with more credit for herself than was otherwise possible. Maybe she had been in the wrong.

But if she’d been in the wrong, Boxley was even more so. She hadn’t shared a discovery straight away. He had actively stolen something from a student.

She’d find the evidence.

‘Just what?’ pressed Callum.

‘Nothing,’ said Alice. ‘I must have been mistaken. Keep it to yourself,’ she said.

‘There’s nothing to keep,’ said Callum with a shrug. He looked at her. ‘Fancy a drink?’ he asked. ‘My treat?’

‘No thanks,’ said Alice, her brain already whirring.

‘Boxley shouldn’t have said that,’ said Callum. ‘About the pies. It’s none of his business. And not true.’

Alice wasn’t listening. She needed a plan. And an accomplice. ‘I’m going to find Zelda.’