When they’d finished, he closed his notebook. “There’s something else,” he said. “For anyone who’s free, we’ll have access to the Van Entel this morning from eleven fifteen to twelve thirty.” The Van Entel was the supertelescope, which was in solar orbit. “We’ll not only be able to look through it, but we’ll be controlling it. If you’d like to sit in, stop by the Data Collection Center. But come early. And I’m sorry about the last-minute notification, but none of us saw this coming.”

Derek was an astronomer, a physicist, a mathematician, and a WSA consultant. The latter gave him a few benefits, like the Van Entel, which he enjoyed passing on to his students. He was also a frequent guest speaker at scientific conferences. When he got in front of a microphone and looked out across an audience, he almost changed character. No one would ever have called him reserved, but he was not inclined to take over a conversation. On stage, however, he held his listeners’ attention, provoked laughter, and enjoyed himself immensely.

Of the students, Karen Blum had probably the most potential. She showed serious analytical capabilities, she was ambitious, and she had an IQ that topped 160. She followed him out of the room. “Professor Blanchard,” she said, “may I ask what project you’ll be working on? With the Van Entel?”

“I don’t have a specific project, Karen,” he said. “You might think of me more as an eavesdropper. They’ll be looking out at the Kellerman Cluster today. At some stars nobody’s ever paid much attention to. They’re trying to get them cataloged.”

Karen literally hugged herself. “How far are they?”

“Seven thousand light-years. Give or take.”

“Beautiful. Is there anything special about them?”

“Not really. Actually, they’re not so much interested in the stars as they are in the telescope. It’s still in its testing phase.”

“Oh yes, of course.”

“We’ll be using the Hynds as well.”

“The ultra-radiotelescope.”

“Right. It’s in orbit too, and it’s also aimed at the area. We’d like to see what else we can learn about what’s going on out there.”

Her eyes brightened. “You planning on taking a trip to the area anytime soon?”

That was a reference to Derek’s background, which consisted of several interstellar missions. That was one of the reasons he retained his situation with the World Space Authority while simultaneously teaching at Penn. “Maybe next week,” he said.

“That’s a joke, right? They’re closing down the interstellar flights, aren’t they?”

“If we let them.”

“Do you think the Centauri Initiative will really pass?”

“I hope not.”

Karen’s amicable expression turned hostile. “Why do those idiots worry so much about alien invasions? There probably aren’t any aliens who would be interested in bothering us. There are hardly any aliens at all.”