George's Cosmic Treasure Hunt (4 page)

“Thank you, Sam,” said Eric. “Now, what I want us to do is answer George's questions—all of us. Each of you”—he handed out pens and paper—“can write me a page or two by the end of the party about what you think is the most interesting part of the science you work on. You can send or e-mail it to me later if you don't have time to finish it now.”

The scientists all looked really happy. They
loved
talking about the most interesting parts of their work.

“And,” added Eric quickly, “before we get back to
the party, I've got one more brief announcement to make—one of my own this time. I'm very excited and pleased to tell you all that I have a new job! I'm going to work for the Global Space Agency, looking for signs of life in our Solar System. Beginning with Mars!”

“Wow!” said George. “That's amazing!” He turned to Annie, but she didn't meet his eye.

“So,” continued Eric, “in just a few days' time, my family and I will be packing up…and moving to the headquarters of the Global Space Agency in the United States of America!”

With that, George's universe imploded.

G
eorge hated watching his next-door neighbors pack up their house and get ready to leave. But he wanted to spend as much time with them as he could before they vanished from his life. So day after day, he went there and saw how the house got bigger and bigger inside as more and more of the Bellises' things were swallowed up—first by big cardboard boxes marked with Global Space Agency stickers and then by the trucks that kept arriving to take them all away.

“It's so exciting!” Annie kept exclaiming. “We're going to America! We're going to be movie stars! We're going to eat huge burgers! We're going to see New York! We're going…” On and on she went about her fabulous new life and how much better everything would be when she was living in a different country. Sometimes George tried to suggest that maybe it wouldn't be quite as amazing as she thought. But Annie was too carried away by her fantasy life in the United States to pay him much attention.

Eric and Susan tried a little harder to mask their excitement about the big move, so as not to hurt George's feelings. But even they couldn't hide it from him entirely. One day, when the house was nearly empty, George sat in Eric's library, helping him wrap his precious scientific objects in old newspaper and put them carefully into big boxes.

“You'll come back, won't you?” pleaded George. All the pictures had come off the walls now, and the shelves were nearly bare of the books that had lined the room. The house was starting to feel as empty and desolate as it had when they'd first moved in.

“That depends!” said Eric cheerfully. “Maybe I'll hitch a lift on the next mission into space and go out there forever.” He caught sight of George's desolate face. “No, no, I don't mean that,” he added hastily. “I couldn't leave you all behind. I'd make sure I had a way back to planet Earth.”

“But will you come back and live here?” persisted George. “In your house?”

“It's not really my house,” said Eric. “It's just a place I was given, where I could work on Cosmos without anyone finding out. But unfortunately, someone—or rather, Graham Reeper—was here already, lying in wait for me.”

“How did Doctor Reeper know that you'd come here?” asked George, wrapping up an old telescope.

“Ah, well, looking back, of course I realize this place was a far more obvious choice than I realized,” replied Eric. “You see, this house belonged to our former tutor, one of the greatest scientists who ever lived. No one knows where he is right now—he seems to have disappeared. But before that happened he wrote me a letter, offering me this house as a safe place to work on Cosmos. It was so important to keep Cosmos away from harm, but in the end, I just couldn't do that.” He looked really sad.

George put down the telescope and reached for his schoolbag. He got out a package of sandwich cookies, ripped them open, and passed them over. Eric smiled at the sight of his favorite cookies. “I should really make us a cup of tea to go with your cookies,” he said. “But I think I've packed the kettle.”

George crunched the cookie between his teeth. “What I don't understand,” he said, realizing this might be his last chance to ask, “is why you don't just build another Cosmos.”

“If I could,” said Eric, “I would. But my tutor, Graham Reeper, and I built the prototype of Cosmos together, many years ago. The modern version of Cosmos still has some of the original features from that first computer. That's why it's not possible for me to simply build another one. Without the other two, I'm not sure I know how. One of them has vanished and the other, Reeper—well, we know all about him. In a way”—Eric licked the cream out of the center of the cookie—“Cosmos breaking down has changed all our lives. Now that I don't have him, I have to look for other ways to continue my work on space. And it means I'm not always worrying that someone will find out about my supercomputer and try to steal him. We moved so many times in order to keep Cosmos out of danger. Poor Annie, she's lived in so many different houses. But this is the one where she's been happiest.”

“You wouldn't know it,” said George darkly. “She doesn't seem sad to be going.”

“She doesn't want to leave you. You're her best friend,” Eric told him. “She's going to miss you, George, even if she doesn't show it. She won't find another friend like you in a hurry.”

George gulped. “I'll miss her, too,” he muttered, turning bright red. “And you. And Susan.”

“We'll see one another again,” said Eric gently. “You won't be missing us forever. And if you ever need me, you know that you just have to let me know. I'll do anything I can for you, George.”

“Um, thanks,” murmered George. A thought struck him. “But is it safe for you to go?” he said, clutching at a ray of hope. “Shouldn't you stay here? What if Reeper follows you to the United States?”

“I don't think there's much poor, old Reeper can do to me now,” said Eric sadly.

“‘Poor, old Reeper'?” exclaimed George hotly. “He tried to throw you into a black hole! I don't understand why you feel sorry for him! I don't get it. Why didn't you do something about him when you had the chance?”

“I've ruined enough of Reeper's life already,” said Eric. George opened his mouth to speak, but Eric cut him off. “Look, George,” he said firmly, “Reeper's confronted me already, and I expect that's enough for him. He's had his revenge, and I don't think I'll be hearing from him again. Anyway, Cosmos doesn't work anymore, so I don't have anything that Reeper would want. I'm safe, my family is safe, and now I want to go to the Global Space Agency. They've offered me the chance to work on finding signs of life on Mars and in other places in the Solar System. You do understand I couldn't refuse?”

“S'pose so,” said George. “Will you tell me if you find anyone out there in space?”

“I most certainly will,” promised Eric. “You'll be among the first to know. And, George…I want you to keep this telescope.” He pointed to the bronze cylinder that George had been carefully wrapping in paper. “It's to remind you to keep looking at the stars.”

“Really?” said George with wonder, unwrapping the telescope again and feeling the cool, smooth metal under his hand. “But isn't it very valuable?”

“Well, so are you. And so are the observations you'll make when you use it. To help you, I've got another special good-bye present for you.” Eric dived into a nearby pile of books and finally—triumphantly—came up with a bright yellow volume that he waved in the air at George. On the front in big letters it said:
The User's Guide to the Universe
.

“Do you remember,” he asked George, “when I asked all my science friends at the party to write a page for me, answering some of the questions you posed? Well, I made their answers into a book—one for you and one for Annie. Here it is! When you read it, remember that I wanted you to understand something about being a scientist. I wanted to show you that me and my friends love to read one another's work and talk about it. We exchange our theories and our ideas, and that's one of the really important—and fun—parts of being a scientist: having colleagues who help, inspire, and challenge you. That's what this book is all about. I thought maybe you'd like to look at the first few pages with me. I wrote them myself,” he added modestly.

Eric started to read.