It's been a very cold and gray day. Ugh! A perfect time to read the first installment of

Alien Uploads

                                                                           Alien Uploads

                                                                    Chapter One:  Laura

Laura watched Dr. Gornstein leave  the lab. It was obvious that something was bothering him.  He'd go out, light up a cigarette,  stare up at the sky and come back in with "answers" .  It was still cool in early April and a few clouds obscured the moon and Sirius. Dr. Gornstein  liked to gauge the clarity of the night sky by the brightness and definition of some of the stars in the southern constellations. "We're not going to see so well tonight, but we won't miss that much either" he said as he came back into the lab. He knew Laura didn't like him to smoke and he felt a bit guilty. He was also frustrated and disappointed at their research progress. He hoped Laura wouldn't notice. She shrugged and answered "we'll do what we can." and added, "you've been smoking again Michael. You know it's not good for you". Laura was his graduate research assistant. She had turned in her chair and looked at him from her desk. He was edgy. They hadn't received replies from either of the two major observatories they'd applied to for telescope time and he knew she expected positive news. Her familiarity irked him. He jumped on what she said. "How's it your business if I smoke or not?" "The smoke comes in here with you. It's on your breath and your clothes and it can hurt me" she countered. His anger mounted. All he could think of was the leftover sandwiches in her desk, the paper and pens she took out of the lab, and calling him by his first name without ever asking him if it was OK. "Look, if it's that much of a problem for you, you can go home right now where it's safer." In a few seconds her face screwed up as she tried unsuccessfully to suppress the reaction and started to cry and squeak words. All that came out was something like "I'm only trying to help you" between sobs. He knew he'd blown it.

He remembered the last staff meeting and how vehemently he'd insisted on the principle of student understanding being the major product of their department. "it's really why we're here..." he'd summarized. "...This is a school it's not any other kind of business...we're here for them."  They couldn't help but agree of course. That's what carried them forward in their research. It's what paid their salaries. His lab was not his playroom and he knew that. If anything was primary about his considerations of his work it was that. Yet, here he was putting his own comfort and interest ahead of his best student. "Laura I'm sorry!" I should not have spoken to you like that..." he launched into his teacher to student humor that always worked in class "...even if you call me by my first name without even asking me if it's OK...and even if you leave half eaten sandwiches in your desk for a week...and take paper and pens from our lab..." She was smiling now. "This is your home. You know that. As much as it is my home, it's your home too."  "We'll call it even then Dr. Gornstein and pursed her lips into a wry sarcastic smile."  "I'm sorry I was disrespectful" she added.  He smiled. "Everyone calls me Michael, come on".

It was late when they quit taking pictures.  He was driving home on the expressway and had begun thinking again about their role in all this. The story of astronomy was the story of man staring up into the heavens and wondering about his place and purpose. Ages and ages of development and conjecture, exploration and new tools.  New theories and technologies ran parallel with the developments of new materials and instruments. Now, it was the almost dizzying developments in ICT to deal with. "They weren't kidding about that "giant step for mankind" on the moon either," he thought. Hubble was supposed to be the astronomy giant step. It had already been more than that. Now the Keck telescopes, the Gran Telescopio Canarias, and the Giant Magellan Telescope stood in a chronological line like some kind of grand cosmic plan, ever so carefully coordinated, to reach and see further and answer key questions.  His own fascination with the stars had somehow become lost in the details of his work.  "This dance with light and its invisible partners",  he had called it once,  had slowed to a walk.

At home he checked out his emails from the GTC again.  Nothing had posted. They were either not interested or nothing was happening . There was always Keck, but last year left him feeling less than enthusiastic about the work they'd done.  The cool reception and  general lack of interest in their project had been disappointing. "What'd you expect, leis and grass skirts" his wife had teased when he mentioned their lukewarm welcome. He had expected quite a bit more. "More like, Captain Gornstein and his crew of cadets;  space - time travelers off to the edge of the universe on a mission to save mankind from the unknown,  have arrived,"  he answered with a smile.

It had rained all night and was still raining as Michael pushed quarters into the parking meter and rushed into the Physical Science Building. He preferred to park on the street whenever he was early and lucky enough to get a space even though it meant several trips down to the meter. He had a faculty parking permit, but it was a long way from the lot to the building entrance and very inconvenient at times, particularly when the weather was bad.
He looked up and down  Walnut and 33rd streets from the window of his corner office.  A flood of memories came back;  his first year at Penn and four of his high school  friends packed into his '55 stick six Chevy, rushing to make their first class. He smiled at the thought of running up the steps across the street to the Towne Building or even here for Physics classes.
Somehow it seemed that a large part of who he really was remained in his fifth grade classroom looking out from the window at the cool rain falling onto the cement of the schoolyard while they were all warm and secure within the strength and knowing care of the School District of Philadelphia.

The staff meeting focused on the values of cultural interaction aiding science. Sometimes it seemed just politically oriented, but it was true nevertheless. It did help. New fresh viewpoints. Different perspectives.  Different cosmologies. It did fit together. It wasn't actually the university kowtowing to political pressure. "The expanding universe" he thought and smiled. The sun had come out suddenly and   Spring entered the lab  in the person of Laura wearing a light green sweater and a  bright early morning smile. "What's the Gran TeCan say?" she asked as concerned as he had been.