Lemuria by Burt Clinchandhill (most popular novels of all time .txt) 📗

De Cremonese smiled. Gavino wasn’t only young, but he was also cocky for his age. Oh, the young. “And what about the other one?”

“Ah, number two. Well, number two was more of mystery at first.”

“Which you undoubtedly solved,” De Cremonese said, praising the young Jesuit.

“Not completely, but... well, let me show you.” With a few taps on the mouse on the right screen, a new animation appeared on the screen, showing a dot labeled ‘Two.’ With every click of the mouse, the dot traveled through space from Earth, passing planets, through our solar system in a different route.

“What am I looking at?”

“You’re looking at all possible extrapolations and variations the computer calculated on the trajectory number two could have taken.”

“And they’re all going nowhere?” De Cremonese frowned.

“Yes, indeed. Or at least that’s what I thought at first. As you can see in every scenario, the rocket seems to be on its way through the solar system, keeping huge distances from any of the planets or moons.”

“So, where is it going? Out of the solar system?”

“That’s what I thought at first, but”—Gavino raised his index finger—“see what happens when I overlay a map of known large asteroids.” On the screen, some one hundred blue dots appeared, swirling their way between the planets.

“I’m always amazed by how little of them collide with any planets.” De Cremonese shrugged.

“Wait for it,” Gavino replied. Dot Two snaked its way gracefully from Earth again, avoiding the Moon and Mars. Just beyond Mars, the dot passed a red dot labeled “5261,” at what looked to be an extremely close distance, at least on the screen.

“Eureka,” De Cremonese called out.

“That’s exactly what I thought.”

5261 Eureka—a one-mile-long asteroid—was the name of the first so-called Mars trojans, a series of asteroids that share Mars’s orbit around the sun. Although many theories exist, there’s no real evidence on how these trojans originated, or what their exact composition is.

“And they pass each other within how many miles?” De Cremonese asked.

“I can’t be sure, but it could be as close as a few hundred miles or so.”

“Wow.” A line appeared between De Cremonese’s brows. “That’s too close to be a coincidence.”

Gavino agreed. “But if it’s no coincidence, what is it? Why would somebody send a rocket to pass an asteroid at such a close distance? Research? To take measurements of some kind?”

“That’s the only thing I can think of, although there’s usually not much interest in those floating rocks. What do we know about 5261 Eureka?” De Cremonese asked.

Gavino brought an asteroid database onto the screen. “Not that much. It’s located deep within Mars’s stable Lagrangian zone, which could mean it’s been in Mars’s orbit for the better part of our solar system’s history. Furthermore, it’s a typical A-type asteroid, according to the infrared spectrum. Presumably, some gasses, Achondrite stone, Angrites, consisting mostly of the mineral augite with some olivine, anorthite and troilite. Nothing out of the ordinary, well, see for yourself.” He turned the screen to De Cremonese, who mumbled as he read.

“Nothing special,” he concluded. “Nothing there that would justify a visit.” He plucked his gray beard. “I don’t understand.”

For a long moment, the room stayed silent, except for the clinging of metal echoing through the building as it stretched and shrunk by the profound temperature changes on the mountain.

“And the rockets’ point of origin?” De Cremonese broke the silence.

“Huh?” Gavino game back.

“You said you were going to get back on the rockets’ point of origin. Where were they launched from?”

“Ah, yes. Sure.” Gavino rubbed his face as if he just woke up. “Although both rockets only came into our telescope’s frame when they were high in altitude, based on their trajectory, I was still able to deduce a point of origin... roughly.”

“How roughly?”

“Well, I think that the point of origin can be found somewhere on a latitude of 1.678,” Gavino said.

“And longitude?” De Cremonese asked, somewhat impatiently.

“That, I don’t have,” Gavino sighed. “Sorry. There was no way I could deduce the longitude, since I don’t know the velocity of the rockets, and there’s no way I can calculate the distance traveled and get a longitude. Again, I’m sorry.”

It took De Cremonese a second to recover from his disappointment. “No, of course not.” He then came back. “There’s absolutely no reason to say you’re sorry. I think you did excellent work.”

“You really think so?” Gavino’s eyes widened.

“I absolutely do. In fact, I’m the one who should be sorry. It’s just that I hoped that uh... Well, you know.”

“I do.”

“So, 1.678 latitude,” De Cremonese repeated. “That’s almost on top of the equator.”

Gavino put a map of the world with the equator drawn across onto the center screen. De Cremonese crossed his finger over the screen and started reading. “Ecuador, Colombia, Brazil, São Tomé and Príncipe, Gabon, Republic of the Congo, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Uganda, Kenya, Somalia, Maldives, Indonesia and Kiribati.”

“Fourteen countries. What do we do now?”

De Cremonese rubbed his face with both hands. “Is that B&N’s Grill just past the base camp still open?”

“I believe it is,” Gavino answered.

De Cremonese looked at his watch. “I suggest we do some more homework and then meet at five—that’s about three hours from now—in the parking lot, drive to B&N’s and discuss our findings over dinner. What do you think?”

Gavino gave a bright smile. “It’s a date.”

“Well, not exactly, but okay. And one more thing. Please, let’s keep this all to ourselves, at least until we know what we’re talking about.”

“Not a problem. Five it is.”

Chapter 12 – Neurogenesis

Boston, MA, Five Months Ago

“My shift just started, and I came as soon as I heard you were awake. How are you doing?” Dr. David Elder was still adjusting his white coat over his blue jeans, while juggling a computer tablet in his hands as he entered Jennifer’s hospital room. “And a good afternoon to you too, Ms. Porter,” he said, addressing Jennifer’s mother sitting next to her daughter’s bed.

The otherwise sterile-looking room looked much cozier now with the