“CERN?”
He hadn’t known.
But he should’ve guessed. He’d been aware of his supervisor’s upcoming travel plans to Switzerland. He’d reconciled the airline charges with SVLAC’s Finance department, hadn’t he? Dr. Kramer had recently delegated a series of departmental administrative tasks to Ethan, too, in addition to work on the holometer, and no, he’d never taken a hands-on approach to the Quantum group’s operational grunt activities, not when he had much better uses for his time—but if Ethan hadn’t been so preoccupied with Forster, he still would’ve seen the throughline in his supervisor’s system inputs.
Should’ve.He should’ve known that Dr. Kramer would be gone from SVLAC for almost a year. Every neuron in his skull diverted to calculations now, becauseten months, forty-three weeks, three hundred days, seven thousand hours—
“A collaborative fellowship with the Director-General.” Dr. Kramer smiled.
“Very prestigious.” Fong exchanged a look with Erin that he couldn’t parse, his neural pathways continuing to fire numbers, his pen abandoned on the floor. “So, given that both of us will be out of the office soon for a protracted period: Dr. Monaghan and Dr. Meyer, you will collaboratively supervise the first year of SVLAC’s quantum gravity research, and at the end of the funding cycle, you’ll generate a report on your findings for the United States Office of Science.”
“You will be responsible if the project fails,” from Dr. Kramer.
“And credited if it succeeds.”
Silence.
His brain flatlined for a brief, blissful moment—then leaped into analysis again. The responsibility was enormous. The honor of the assignment was equally large. Success didn’t just mean solving one of the most pressing dilemmas in physics—reconciling the incompatible theories of general relativity and quantum mechanics into a continuous, unified theory of space-time—but a thousand follow-up opportunities as well: papers in major journals, visibility in the field and beyond—profiles inTime Magazine?—and a level of public recognition to which even Chase could only aspire.
But:Erin Monaghan.
“No,” he said.
“This is not a request, Meyer.”
“Dr. Kramer is right. The project is compulsory for both of you. Circumstances being what they are, and with the relativistic mechanics versus quantum mechanics showcase that you put on for the officials on Friday, this is the outcome.”
Showcase?
“I expect a project charter on my desk by Friday, and weekly status reports.”
“But… but that means that we’d have to start work today! My LIGO research—” Erin rose from her seat.
Ethan remained where he was. He couldn’t feel his legs.
We didn’t put on a showcase.
“This is a government directive. It takes precedence over any other contracts or department work and requires a moratorium on all existing projects. I’m sorry.” Maybe she was, but Nadine Fong still continued with, “Anyhow, you and Dr. Meyer are already studying the fabric of space-time, even if it’s from different angles. Your joint expertise with optics and lasers will be useful for the study. You might find that there’s more common ground in your current research than you anticipate.”
“That’s doubtful—”
“Your doubt is irrelevant, Monaghan.” Dr. Kramer retrieved his briefcase and stood. To Ethan, “The project charter will be on my desk by the end of the week.”
“Good luck,” from Fong. She followed Dr. Kramer out the door.
But luck had nothing to do with success in science. Not that it mattered. Because this—thiswasn’t an unlucky turn of events. A joint research assignment would’ve been unlucky last Thursday, maybe. Now, though? It was catastrophic.
It was Erin Monaghan’s fault.
That single clarion thought burned away the static still rioting in his brain. Sensation returned to his legs. He pushed up from his chair to match her posture over the table. “You did this, Monaghan.”
“What?”
“If—if you hadn’t spent all day politicking about gravitational waves and binary—”
Her attention broke away from the door. Eyes clearing from a thousand-yard haze, she transferred her frown to him instead. “What?No…no. You—you were the one who volunteered to present in Dr. Quarles’ place—”
“Someone had to.”
