I guess I was actually his.
“I just wanted to congratulate you on your big day,” He said to me with a grin as she shook my hand vigorously. “I for one am proud that you’re doing something like this. Makes me look a lot smarter than I am.”
It took me a moment to realise that he was joking, and when I did, I smiled and replied, “I’m glad you’ve taken to this project so.”
He smiled again as he asked, “Must’ve taken a lot of work and money to make this happen, eh?”
“ It wouldn’t have been possible without my friend Charlotte, not to mention some person who funded two thirds of the operation.”
I wondered if I’d said the wrong thing, or too much, when he said, “You’re welcome,” grinning again as my jaw dropped.
“Thank you so much for this!” I could not contain my outburst of gratitude and, before either of us knew it, we were locked in a tight embrace. “You don’t know how much it means to me!”
“Not a problem,” I heard his grunt before I finally released him. “All I did was sign a cheque. You had all the hard work.”
“Yes. It was really difficult, especially the search for the right particles from around several galaxies.” I realised I had said more than was expected in the conversation – I never could understand how to talk to people properly – but he shrugged and smiled.
“Yeah well, my father always said I had stardust in my blood. I guess that means you do too.”
I didn’t understand what he meant, but when I smiled at him, he smiled back, so I assumed I had responded correctly. We shook hands and embraced again before he continued on his way out of the research center and I continued inward to where the two capsules were being prepped.
As the doors slid open, I saw Charlotte ordering several white-robed scientists around. They dispersed to their respective tasks, and when I locked eyes with her, her face seemed to darken.
“Are you sure you want to do this?” she asked nervously. “I mean, we can always send something else through.”
“You know we can’t,” I said. “We spent almost six years looking for the right particles for the second capsule. It has to be me.”
“But we could run more tests,” she persisted, unconvinced. “We could run more tests or recalibrate…something. We could-”
“Calm down, Charlotte,” I interrupted gently. “It’s going to be fine. I’m going to be fine.”
While still unconvinced, she did leave it at that. With no further interruptions, both capsules were double-checked and all the rest of the equipment was given a thorough examination. I checked the first capsule. Charlotte checked the second. When both stations were clear, I stepped into the first and nodded to Charlotte.
Charlotte released the particles into the second capsule. I could hear the machine at work, hear the high-pitched whine and feel the low hum as the particles flooded the second capsule. This was it, I thought to myself. This is going to change everything.
A Part of Something
Start from the beginning
