Cora grinned. “That’s right.”
“Ethan, I want some photos on the deck outside,” I said, despite it being pitch black. To Dad and Cora, I said, “We’ll be right back.”
Ethan heaved a sigh. “My work is never done.”
It was halfway through July; even late at night, the summer warmth lay like a blanket over us. We could hear the hum of cicadas, the low hoot of an owl. Above us the waning moon shone brightly in a cloudless sky. We’d be lucky with the Arborids this year; it’d be a new moon in two weeks, when they peaked.
“Now what?” Ethan asked. “Do you actually want me to take pictures?”
“Sure.” I hopped up on the railing of the wooden deck. Ethan snapped a photo, then brought it over for me to see.
“I wonder if Gibson looked through the older telescope,” Ethan mused, hopping up on the railing next to me. “He took an astronomy class here, so if the telescope was around then, he probably did.”
I swiveled toward him. “Are you serious?”
Ethan blinked. “Yeah, why?”
“When did he take an astronomy class?”
“I think…1906? Seven? Eight?”
“Annie Cannontaughtthose classes.”
“Who?”
“Andrea Darrel’s—the astronomer I’m researching—boss. Harvard sent Cannon over to help launch the Maria Mitchell Association. Do you think—what if Andrea Darrel and Frederick Gibson met?”
“Maybe they did. I can’t imagine the astronomy community was that big.”
“How old do you think he would have been?”
“Midthirties?”
In 1906, Andrea would have been thirty-three. “Interesting.”
“Yeah.” Ethan looked distracted. He ran his forefinger over the lace strap of my black romper. “This is also interesting. What is this?”
“It’s a romper.” I tried to ignore the flush of desire running through me. “I refuse to believe you don’t know what a romper is.”
“Whatever it is, it’s wicked sexy.”
It was, in fact, a very sexy romper. “Thanks.”
He traced a line along the netting as the waist. “Bet you could get an interesting tan here.”
Wouldn’t you like to see?I almost replied, which didn’t even make sense as a tease because Ethan saw me three-quarters naked almost every day at the beach. But the sensation of his finger running back and forth made it harder for me to think, and Icouldn’t manage any other words, so we sat locked in place, my breath coming harder and faster.
“Kids!” Dad called. “Come look!”
Ethan gave me a rueful look. “I guess they’re not making out.”
Neither were we, which was good. Right.
We stepped back inside the domed building, where Dad and Cora stood close to the eyepiece of the telescope. Dad gestured at it. “Come on, we want to show you something.”
“What’s it pointed at?” I asked, but Dad grinned and didn’t answer, just gestured me closer while Cora made an adjustment. I stepped into place so my field of vision was filled with first darkness, then space.
At first, I wasn’t sure what I was seeing—not a star, nor a planet, which I’d been expecting. No, this was distinctly human in make, modules connected by tubes, two long wings flaring out. It flashed across the field so quickly I barely understood what I was seeing.
