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Books > Science Fiction >IHU ©2004 A science fiction short story. Approaching universal truth from seemingly diametric angles, an astronomer and a philosopher find their paths unexpectedly entangled on the day before an extraordinary event.
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...excerpt from IHU:
Low-pitched vibrations resonate through campus, distinct and gongish. One by one, they slowly emerge from the university clock tower with each strike of the pendulum to the bell jar. Ariel Imezch counts them patiently as she finishes her apple. She had read once somewhere that fruit in the morning awakens the mind. “Good juice of the orchard,” she thinks to herself, “improve my alertness, and die for my health.” Gradually, as the seventh strike is deadened by the desert air, stillness falls around her. A quick rhythmic clicking kills the silence and carries her off to class. In stride, she drops her core onto the yard for the squirrels to devour.
As she makes her way under the arches at the entrance of Brocklemyre Auditorium, the noisy chatter of Astronomy 101 students begins to overtake her. Yet just like crickets’ violins upon a bear’s arrival, the students’ conversations hush to reverence when her presence is known. They watch her approach the podium, set down her organizer, and pull from it what seem to be syllabi. Feeling their eyes, Ariel thwarts her return glance until she is finally ready to begin...
“Good morning, class. My name is Ariel Imezch. I am a doctor of astronomy here at the university; and specialize in Big Bang Cosmology. This morning we will briefly read through the syllabus and begin discussing planets of our solar system...” Ariel has taught astronomy here for nearly three years. The only thing she would ever want more than to discover the origin of the universe, that which gave her life, would be to create life herself. However, as she would say, “There are no men in existence who live up to my intellectual standard.” Her two books, ‘Red Shift Reality’ and ‘Hubble’s Dinosaur,’ are extensively in print throughout Australia, North America, and Europe. Because of this, her international academic acclaim increases with every new day. In all honesty, the majority of men are feverishly intimidated by her - even those in the field of astronomy.
After spending almost 45 minutes on the syllabus, she scrambles to relay a hurried introduction to the solar system: “Can anyone tell me what two planets are nearest to the asteroid belt?” Seconds pass, no one answers. “Jupiter and Mars. Nearly all of Jupiter’s twenty some odd moons are merely borrowed asteroids. Jupiter’s close vicinity to the belt and its intense gravitational field lead to this phenomenon. Mars can do no such thing. It is roughly ten times less massive than the Earth; and like a gnat when compared to Jupiter!” The students laugh. “Finally they’re awake,” she thinks to herself. “If you travel sunward from Mars you’ll bump into Earth, Venus, and Mercury; and if you travel spaceward from Jupiter you’ll encounter Saturn, Uranus, Neptune, and Pluto. In recent years, some studies have shown that Pluto may not really be a planet: for beyond it lies a humungous sphere of asteroids called the Kuiper belt. It is believed that Pluto may have been borrowed by our solar system just as Jupiter’s moons are borrowed by Jupiter.”
The clock tower tolls its eight resonations. “Be sure to read chapter one in your textbooks for Wednesday. See you then.” Ariel watches as her class spills out into the yard. Thinking that all have gone, she begins to gather her things.
“Doctor Imezch.”
“Yes?” Ariel asks as she turns her head to see a girl with a ponytail and a blue backpack.
“I have a question.”
“Sure,” Ariel replies.
“Why would a planet or a solar system borrow things?”
“I suppose nobody knows why. I know I don’t. But, I can tell you how they do it in a zillion different ways.”
As she makes her way under the arches at the entrance of Brocklemyre Auditorium, the noisy chatter of Astronomy 101 students begins to overtake her. Yet just like crickets’ violins upon a bear’s arrival, the students’ conversations hush to reverence when her presence is known. They watch her approach the podium, set down her organizer, and pull from it what seem to be syllabi. Feeling their eyes, Ariel thwarts her return glance until she is finally ready to begin...
“Good morning, class. My name is Ariel Imezch. I am a doctor of astronomy here at the university; and specialize in Big Bang Cosmology. This morning we will briefly read through the syllabus and begin discussing planets of our solar system...” Ariel has taught astronomy here for nearly three years. The only thing she would ever want more than to discover the origin of the universe, that which gave her life, would be to create life herself. However, as she would say, “There are no men in existence who live up to my intellectual standard.” Her two books, ‘Red Shift Reality’ and ‘Hubble’s Dinosaur,’ are extensively in print throughout Australia, North America, and Europe. Because of this, her international academic acclaim increases with every new day. In all honesty, the majority of men are feverishly intimidated by her - even those in the field of astronomy.
After spending almost 45 minutes on the syllabus, she scrambles to relay a hurried introduction to the solar system: “Can anyone tell me what two planets are nearest to the asteroid belt?” Seconds pass, no one answers. “Jupiter and Mars. Nearly all of Jupiter’s twenty some odd moons are merely borrowed asteroids. Jupiter’s close vicinity to the belt and its intense gravitational field lead to this phenomenon. Mars can do no such thing. It is roughly ten times less massive than the Earth; and like a gnat when compared to Jupiter!” The students laugh. “Finally they’re awake,” she thinks to herself. “If you travel sunward from Mars you’ll bump into Earth, Venus, and Mercury; and if you travel spaceward from Jupiter you’ll encounter Saturn, Uranus, Neptune, and Pluto. In recent years, some studies have shown that Pluto may not really be a planet: for beyond it lies a humungous sphere of asteroids called the Kuiper belt. It is believed that Pluto may have been borrowed by our solar system just as Jupiter’s moons are borrowed by Jupiter.”
The clock tower tolls its eight resonations. “Be sure to read chapter one in your textbooks for Wednesday. See you then.” Ariel watches as her class spills out into the yard. Thinking that all have gone, she begins to gather her things.
“Doctor Imezch.”
“Yes?” Ariel asks as she turns her head to see a girl with a ponytail and a blue backpack.
“I have a question.”
“Sure,” Ariel replies.
“Why would a planet or a solar system borrow things?”
“I suppose nobody knows why. I know I don’t. But, I can tell you how they do it in a zillion different ways.”