Ghostbusters In Love

3. Ghostbusters Origins: Ray and Egon Meet Venkman

As they walked through the cemetery gates, Venkman and Ray were giddy. Egon was Egon.

"You are aware I could lose tenure for this, Venkman," Egon reminded him as they headed down the cemetery path.

"I am aware of that, Dr. Spengler," Venkman replied, imitating Egon's deadpan speaking style. "I'm also aware that you've been recruited by NASA and the pentagon, as well as several smaller European principalities, so I don't think you're going to have a hard time finding another gig."

"Do you guys really think we'll see a ghost this time?" Ray's face is childlike and hopeful. Egon feels a surge of protective impulse come over him.

It was becoming clear that if they could not find and record an actual spectral sighting in the field, their research was purely theoretical. Without practical application, without experiments that could be repeated by other scientists in other labs, without properly documented real life ghost encounters, it was getting harder and harder to get grant funding. They needed data. They needed proof.

Over the past two years, they tried everything they could think of to manifest a ghost or see into the hidden realms. Seances and Quija boards, mediums and psychics. Mushrooms, absinthe and acid. They'd stayed up all night in three supposedly haunted hotels, four drafty old theaters, and one notoriously spooky museum.

Ray had night vision goggles on and a backpack full of Venkman's "borrowed" equipment. He'd forbidden any flashlights, as they might blind the team to subtler paranormal bioluminescence.

Navigating the crumbling colonial brick walkways in the dark was much more cumbersome than they'd thought through. Both Ray and Egon could be wobbly walkers. They would have to be careful not to sprain an ankle. Ray knew he'd wake up covered in mystery bruises.

Egon was wearing a helmet contraption with ultra violet and infrared vision capabilities. He also carried gear to monitor sound frequencies and other forms of radiation. What if ghosts operated at the spectrum of radio, gamma or microwaves? It must all be monitored.

Venkman wore bermuda shorts and a polaroid camera around his neck. He carried a case of cold beer.

"It's for science," Venkman had said, when Ray raised his eyebrows at the booze on an academic outing. He already wasn't taken seriously by any of the other professors. Anything legitimately supernatural they discovered tonight would be jeopardized by alcohol consumption. But they'd already crossed the line six months ago when they'd done hallucinogens and attempted to contact Edgar Allen Poe at a midnight crossroads. A beer or six probably wouldn't hurt their reputation at this point.

Four hours and seven cigarettes into the stakeout and Ray was beginning to think the beer was a great idea after all. They were bored and damp and Venkman was trying to get them to sing three part harmony with him on an old Dean Martin song. Ray was just giving in to cracking open a can when the full moon rose. He heard Egon cry out. He dropped the beer and tried to run.
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Egon had set up a makeshift mobile lab on a tabletop like sarcophagus lid. He was sure the occupant did not mind. All his readings were stable and no activity could be detected along any wavelength. Nothing was happening.

He clicked his pen and tapped his toes to try and keep his brain awake. Even sang along with Venkman a little. Watched Ray's cigarette tip glowing red. Wished he could pace but didn't want to bang into anything in the dark.

The woman at the historical society had told Peter that The Grey Lady was supposed to appear on the summer solstice somewhere on this hillside. At least Venkman thought it was this hillside. Could have been that one over there. He wasn't entirely sure they were in the right spot. It was all guesswork in the dark. Maybe they'd have to come back next summer and set up before sunset.