TA Chapter 6 Chat
Ril Milena(POV)
The surroundings of the high table were devoid of people except for the professor. The white square shaped table cloth served to protect the brown varnished surface from the food and drinks atop it. Above it stood the tiered food tray holding a variety of mouth-watering snacks and actual food like grilled steak, cooked white rice and a few others. While Marissa had been pulling me along, I had noticed that there were subtle differences in the food varieties upon each table, a culinary feat that had amazed me. Around the tiered tray stand, stood jugs filled with various soft drinks and a few bottles of wine. Ceramic plates also stood upon the surface coupled with all manner of cutlery.
The Professor had been in the middle of devouring a biscuit by taking large bites when we found him. Even the surrounding noise had failed to mask the crunch of his chewing, yet there was no embarrassment upon his face. He had reached that age where he was no longer beholden to the views of the public.
Professor Maxim was a person I respected from the bottom of my heart. He had a broad mind, an unrestricted thought process that could propose even the most outlandish of theories, plus the wisdom to know when he was right or wrong. But most of what I loved about him was the fact that he had the same enthusiasm for outer space as I. He was a Dugavu State native but had been there during the Observatory's ribbon cutting ceremony.
"Maxim! I wouldn't have pegged you as someone who loved these kinds of things." the words came naturally as I beheld the man. A dark expression crossed his face for a brief moment.
"...my wife kicked me out with an ultimatum to attend, or I wouldn't be allowed back to my research for an entire week!" he complained.
I caught myself releasing the first genuine laugh of the evening upon his words and the disgruntled expression upon his aged features. He picked up a glass filled with an orange colored liquid and took a sip. It was probably juice as I knew how he hated the taste of wine.
"I promised you I'd find her, Professor!" said Marissa with a wink and a smile directed my way.
"Thank you, Marissa! I was just a small sliver away from excusing myself from this gathering. I respect the celebrations just as the next man, but my time would be better spent pushing our civilisation along." Maxim shrugged.
"It would have wounded my heart if I had missed you." I said with a mock dramatic effect of placing my palm on my chest before we all broke out into laughter.
"Enough of that! There are certain rumors flying around. Are they true." Maxim's face had morphed into one of calm, his gaze feeling like it could pierce through my skin. My heart skipped a beat at that.
"Rumors...?" My eyes caught the frown on Marissa's face. "Some idiots must be spreading bad rumors about you again! I will make sure I dredge them out from whence they are hiding once we return!" She punched her fist into her palm with such force that the sound traveled into enough ears to draw attention.
"Come on, Marissa! There is no way Maxim would be referring to such idiotic things..." I patted the other woman's shoulder while ruminating upon what Maxim meant.
There were many things flying around these days that it took me a few seconds to parse out what he meant, and that realization only came about when I decided to forego the rumors and delve into the facts. Facts, that hadn't yet made it into the outside world. Facts related to the observatory, as that was the only topic that would cause a change in the man's expression.
"If I am not mistaken, you're speaking about the latest discoveries of the second planet in our system?"
"You mean...? Did you really manage to observe it?!" squealed Marissa, her fingers digging into my hand.
"Yes. And please, stop shouting." I warned, unclasping her fingers and gesturing with my chin to those around us. They weren't exactly near, and the other sounds helped to mask our conversation, but Marissa's excitement was broadcasting itself.
"Interesting. What does it look like? The composition of its surface? Does it support life?" Maxim barraged me with questions.
I picked up a jug filled with a dark purple liquid, probably blackcurrant, and poured some into one of the clean glasses before downing it. It served to help me gather my thoughts while also giving me time to gaze at our surroundings, through the rim of the glass.
Glasses were clinking in various toasts, also murmurs, with occasionally some words entering my ears. Some of the people had stepped up onto the dance floor, pairs composed of a man and a woman, hand in hand, fingers interlaced as they rhythmically flowed with the piano music. But still, no sign of Luthor anywhere.
'Yep! Blackcurrant!'
"It's not as if we could get a look at the planet. We only have data. We only had an artist do an impression of what the data would look like in reality. It doesn't have an atmosphere."
"What?" Marissa clutched her chest, her face crunching up as if she was in pain. I shook my head at her dramatics while Maxim ignored her entirely.
"What makes it different from an asteroid?" He asked, his gaze almost dimming.
"Its a planet. It's mass, size and rotation already suggested as much." I relit the flames of curiosity in his mind.
"Is it as large as kisolo?" asked Marissa.
"No, smaller. It is also barren, red and lacks water bodies." I answered.
"How did you manage to get all that data? I mean no offense, but I was certain in my last visit there, that the telescope couldn't capture such precise calculations!" frowned Maxim, his mind trying to solve the problem.
"Am afraid that's a secret... For now. But there is something I have wanted to know ever since our discovery. Is it possible for a planet to exist without an atmosphere?" I asked, this time directing my entire attention towards Maxim. After getting to know each other in the past, he had insisted that I don't use honorifics when addressing him. He was strange that way. After all, I was only 19 and he was well over 50.
"Well, as I had explained to you during our previous sessions, my theory of planet formation revolved around the idea that young systems are simply made up of a star, with dust and rock, rotating around said star as the axis..." he took a swig of the orange juice, downing the entire cup in one go before continuing.
"I believe that eventually, due to circumstances still unknown to me, one of the rocks gains a property that births gravity. It starts to attract all the dust and rock in its immediate vicinity until it forms a sphere. The mass and size are dependent on whatever scale that can be used to measure the strength of said gravity. The composition of the planet's core is what I believe would be the reason as to whether it can birth a magnetic shielding like our own. Magnetic shielding is what allows gaseous substances to stay and create an atmosphere instead of being ripped away by the Star."
"So, in essence, that planet lacks an atmosphere because it has no shielding." Marissa concluded the obvious.
"Mmmm! Have you observed any other planets in our system?" Maxim asked after taking a bite out of a new cookie and taking a sip from his refilled glass.
"I believe our system only has two planets and asteroid belt."
"How far is that second planet from the star?" this time, it was Marissa.
"It's most definitely the closest." I answered once again.
"What's the closest?"
This new voice caused a chill to crawl down my back, goosebumps breaking out on my skin, even as I abruptly spun on my heel, leveling my gaze at the person.
He was casually standing there, left hand in his pocket, a glass of swirling wine in his right, plus a small smile playing across his lips. His crimson pupils gazed at me with interest, entirely ignoring the other two by my side.
I found myself drawn into that gaze for a few seconds before forcefully breaking eye contact to gaze past him and onto the thin crowd at his back.
"Mr. Lutalo, I believe there is nothing that would warrant another conversation between us." I leaned against the table to steady myself. I was very certain that my feet would have slipped out from beneath me otherwise.
There was something off about the man, an aura that changed the atmosphere into something unsurvivable the moment he stood before you.
"I simply decided to check up on this captivating girl I passed by while heading for my other commitments. Is that so wrong?"
"Can I go?" whispered Marissa, her voice trembling.
"Yes."
The moment I answered, she dragged Maxim with her. She was certain I wouldn't get hurt, but staying to handle this man was not something she was certain she could do. And if I was being honest, I too, couldn't handle him. The atmosphere he created coupled with the stories I had heard through the grapevine didn't paint a pretty picture.